Agony and the Ecstasy
by Beckon
Summary: What she could remember though... were flickered images of black and white.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is one those ideas where it came to me sounding off really dark and I wanted to portray it out like that; it wouldn't be the first one to cross my path to be quite honest. It's also one where I could leave it like it is or take it off some place unknown. It feels like I haven't typed them in forever, so I'm trying to get back into how their characters function and set up a different viewpoint. Maybe. Probably not. I mean, I do enjoy both aspects of this couple, to a certain degree of course.**

It was a simple mission at most. Or at least that's how it should've been and should have stayed.

She was given control over a small group of Division members to step into the human world for researching purposes; it was an easy routine for them although it didn't really provide much of the information they were looking for … most of the people who accompanied her seemed to merely enjoy the break and change of environment. She kept her mind on the given task and made sure not to let herself become distracted like they did.

… She didn't remember a lot after that.

She remembered hearing the muttering in the Fourth Division corridors and picking up a few words now and again… none of it made any sense to her though. Pushing herself away from the bed, she could recall the sense of tightness run over her body but ignored the brief signs that told her to stop. She had been half way out of bed before someone walked in and quickly advised her otherwise, promising to go get Captain Unohana before they disappeared back out into the corridor. While it had been just a little odd, she didn't think much into it and decided to move back to where she had been previously sitting. Whatever had happened must've been serious because the Fourth Division Captain showed up just a few minutes later; those sometimes-motherly eyes seemed to show brief signs of worry but quickly covered themselves with a look of relief.

The woman explained the situation slowly to her and said that their group had been ambushed by a pack of upper-class Hollows… the only reason they would've been able to strike them right as they arrived back into Soul Society was if an Espada had been leading the attack. She said they wouldn't have had the appropriate time to react and because of that… they did suffer some minor causalities. She remembered merely staring at the woman while she retold the events of the past few days but was unable to grasp why the woman was telling her that in the first place. So they were ambushed and lost a few members… it wasn't anything new to be honest. Why was she treated like some kind of special guest here?

She was an occasional regular in the fourth Division house and while everyone greeted her with sympathetic smiles and knowing eyes… they had never gone this far; she had never needed Captain Unohana to look over her before.

That's when she brought attention to the bruises she had missed before, to the dark marks that broke her skin into blood red rings, to the linear streaks that cut her skin in some places…

Again, she didn't see the problem in the matter and ask the Captain for verification of her concerns. It would seem only problematic for the busy Captain to waste her time on minor injuries like this. That's when the woman's eyes changed once more and the corner of her lips turned downward, that's when she asked if she remembered anything about the event. When she answered that she couldn't give a perfect picture response, the Captain nodded and slowly began to answer her question, finally resolving the mystery of why she needed this kind of treatment.

It took them close to two days to recover everyone who had been out on that research mission. When they didn't return on time it had been assumed that something came up; Captain Mayuri wasn't happy with the late attendance but muttered the whole situation off without even a spark of concern. When they were recovered, just outside of city limits, everyone was in bad shape. Most of them were suffering from blunt force trauma, multiple organ failures, blood loss, anything that could be accounted for from a gang related attack… those who died passed away within three hours of being recovered; a few more passed away that night and the following morning as well. Many of them were in medically induced comas to help relieve the swelling in their brains; those who survived the first few nights had greater chances of recovering now. She nodded and thanked the woman for looking after her fellow Division members… but apparently the story didn't end there.

After all, there was a reason she wasn't suffering from the same injuries as they were.

She was suffering from worst ones.

But her head wasn't split open to relieve the cerebral swelling, her chest wasn't heavily bound to piece broken ribs back together, and she certainly wasn't on the verge of death… when she asked the Captain to clarify her remark, the woman showed just a brief hint of reluctantly before she moved to answer her.

… She was released from the barracks three days later.

Work continued on as though she had never been absent from it, as though nothing had even happened… those who had passed away were buried and forgotten as new members stepped in to take their places. Everyone talked about the ongoing war between them and the striking Hollows, everyone wanted to go for the throat so to speak… but it would be a long time before plans of that could take place. It would seem like whenever she stepped out on a quick errand, rather it be for the Division mail or to drop off reports, she could hear those soft whispers following after her. She showed no interest when someone spoke her name under their breath, she had no time to stop and question their motives about it… there was work to be done and very little time in the day to complete it.

It was only when those closest to her began to do the same thing that she realized just how deeply the situation had engraved itself into the Society.

_"How can she just walk around like nothing happened?"_

_"She doesn't remember anything… and personally, I think that's for the best."_

It was true…

It was reasonable that those who had been severely beaten and suffered cerebral swelling couldn't remember an image of what happened, but a lot of them escaped with their brains still artfully intact… and even they couldn't recall much. There were tests that had been done but the most conclusive results showed nothing out of the ordinary, maybe an elevated heart rate but that was all. There was speculation that a Hollow with a strong mental ability was able to scramble their memories to the point of being unidentifiable, it gave a simple easy explanation as to why none of them could even recall a face.

Sometimes she did remember though…

She remembered fingers pressing into her skin, dragging down red marks on her arms and legs and anywhere they could get a hold on; bruises arising from rough contact of conflicting flesh and trembling pressure. The sense of breathlessness when lips claimed her own as prisoners and drained her lungs of oxygen… the sense of vulnerability when hands successfully pinned her down without so much as a fight…

Because she wasn't fighting.

She never did.

… She remembered that.

Cold nights were accompanied by cold sweats as those memories plagued her day after day. Fingers brushed across her skin, still able to feel where his warmth had almost burned her; shaking breaths passed through uncertain lips as they felt the bruises he had left on her during those sharpened embraces. The soft motion of her uniform sliding off her shoulders and being guided down to the floor… the rough cradle of hands against her bare hips… the twisting and turning of bodies against the cold floor and colder sheets. That burning sensation that started between her legs and seemed to melt its way throughout her body…

She remembered those images and sounds.

She remembered because she wanted to.

It just wasn't knowledge that she wanted anyone else to know. The kind of backlash that would stem from that would no doubt end with incarceration or death… it was complicated and she only had herself to blame for it. At the start of it, it only seemed like a minor disturbance, nothing that could possibly escalade to something of this magnitude. Not that there was a lot to this to begin with… this had been the one and only breaking point so far… hopefully the last one.

It had been half a year since their first encounter… she could recall it even now. They had been sent to the human world to look over some suspicious activity and while on patrol, she spotted him briefly through the crowded streets. It had been a mere glance and for a moment, she thought her eyes had misguided her. Then there was another look and another glance… and then he spotted her just the same. While the people around her couldn't sense him and couldn't even see him, she couldn't stop looking at him; she didn't even bother to hide the attack, he already knew she was there. But she didn't say anything and neither did he. They just stared at one another, observing every detail and movement.

She considered him to look fairly odd for a man of… numbered power; she didn't know what kind of ink stained his skin but that kind of energy wasn't one of a simple henchman. Light-pink strands curved down his right cheek to move eyes along the slender sculpt of his face. His physique was slim and elongated, but that didn't mean he was voided of muscular built… his shoulders pressed through the tight material of his uniform to back up that statement. Nimble fingertips seemed to bounce lightly against his lower lip as he continued to maintain that eye contact, taking in her details at every curve and contour.

They left the human world without a word; she didn't tell anyone about his appearance or their brief encounter… she didn't know why. It would have seemed reasonable to give in and tell someone that there was confirmed activity, but instead she merely backed up everyone's reports that said activity was possible but there wasn't valid evidence of it. That was her first roll in this dangerous game and it only got worse after that.

She volunteered to go on every mission back to the human world for the off chance that he would be there again; it was a fifty-fifty chance that he would be, sometimes it seemed like he had another sense that told him of where she was. It depended on who was in the group and whether or not she could search for him like she did. She let it slip up once and Matsumoto questioned what she was doing, trying to look out into the same crowd to see who was out there. It must've been a stroke of luck that he stepped out of view at that same moment, he had probably sensed the movement before she did and thought ahead of her. It was passed off as a moment of the mind wandering off and she went back to the mission at hand.

This continued time after time and she found herself almost looking forward to seeing him again… part of her sensed that he was doing just the same. It was ridiculous though, she was a Shinigami and he was an Espada… they were both destined to be killed if something like this was figured out; actually, he probably wouldn't suffer consequences like that, that behavior would more than likely be encouraged. She needed to be careful though; he could be as reckless as he wanted.

He was cautious and observant though.

She found herself attracted to the way he would casually push up on the white frames of his glasses every now and again. Those brief subtle movements that disturbed the absolute stillness of his body.

What happened on that mission… was an overreaction of chemicals in their bodies. It was their combined recklessness, some sense of desperation and a need to know what the other was like. An observation from a distance was not enough to dispel their curiosities, they both needed more; it wasn't planned from her side but she could tell from the initial attack that he had put in a careful amount of thought. He knew where and when to strike, he knew what to do and how to do it… he knew how to mask the crime. In the end, it was a genius plot.

While it gave misguided ideas and thoughts to the rest of the Society… she knew better than to provide them with a sense of ease by giving them the truth. It was selfish and a complete break from what she was supposed to be, but she didn't want them to know. It was probably better for them to think that he had taken advantage of her rather than how she gave in willingly to him.

Given a month or so, the complications of it would eventually move away from the limelight… everyone would gather other things to worry for and carry on with their lives.

Things like to get complicated for her though…

It was a passing two months since the mission and she found her health declining day by day; the mornings were getting harder and she found herself making numerous mistakes throughout the hours, unable to focus or concentrate on her tasks. She dropped trays, beakers, almost anything that touched her hands was immediately dropped to the floor. It caused all sorts of problems in the labs and she felt herself actually wince when Captain Mayuri yelled at her for it; he rejected the idea of sending her to Division Four when she remarked about her strange feelings, and for once she agreed with him. She didn't want to look into them and preferred to overlook them as much as she could… not a wise choice but she needed to get herself back together or risk putting the entire lab in danger. It took a few days before she could get herself back under control and then things went on from there; it was like there wasn't a problem to begin with.

The next Lieutenant's meeting proved otherwise though.

She remembered about an hour into the meeting before things got blurry after that… then she woke up in Division Four again. That same pained feeling from before surfaced itself and she could feel her fingertips shaking from it this time around, making it more difficult to overlook and ignore. The feeling of nausea bubbled in her stomach but she managed to suppress the motion for the most part, almost losing control over it a few times. It was only when she excused herself to one of the closest bathrooms that they realized she was finally awake, and even then they had to wait a few minutes before she felt well enough to come back out.

Isane explained that she had passed out in the middle of the meeting and they brought her here as soon as they could. It was speculated that it must've been from exhaustion because she was sporting heavy rings underneath her eyes and was moving a little slow that day… the reports came back with different readings though.

Nine weeks carrying.

There was that returning sense of hesitance and… almost regret when the news was delivered… she wanted elaboration and confirmation where they didn't wish to push the subject further. Because no one wants to talk about the conceiving of a child out of an unwilling situation; it was sympathies and sorrows that marked every word. But she couldn't follow it, she didn't see it in that light at the starting position… she wanted to know how it was possible, how that could happen between a Shinigami and Hollow; those were answers no one wanted to know or find out.

They kept her for a few more days to run tests, but she knew the real reason behind him. Captain Unohana didn't want to give her back over to her Captain. In Division Four, she was safe and taken care of… but in the labs, anything was possible. She guessed all they could see were images of some kind of fetus floating around in a tube, or stuck in a jar of fluids hidden somewhere in the back of a sealed refrigerator. They were disturbing pictures to imagine, but the harsh reality of it was that they were still possible… and that's what caused a cold shiver to run up her spine. Sometimes, during the night, she could hear those whispers again. There were always the continuous talks of just getting rid of it and solving the problem early on, after all not a lot of people knew and it wasn't like it would be hurting anyone.

She had gotten too used to people disregarding her own opinion, it didn't bother her at first… and then the thought began to grow on her. A small little being growing inside of her, completely depended on her… a perfect mix of genetics between the two of them… it would seem like a disgrace to anyone else but she found it all the more marvelous. This body of hers had always been useless and worthless, good for nothing other than use as a shield, but now… now it had a purpose. She wasn't even aware she could reproduce like this; she was so certain her immune system wouldn't have allowed for cells to gather together and last this long. For once, being proven wrong didn't feel like a hassle.

Eventually, Captain Mayuri got impatient with her continued absence and demanded that she'd be released. It all came out at that point and Captain Unohana had to release her reports to him, revealing the pregnancy and all. His first reaction was one of anger, more so because she would soon be useless to him. It didn't take long for a second one to emerge though as he came to the realization that this would be the first confirmed report of a Shinigami-Hollow hybrid… after that, he was more willing to cooperate- something Captain Unohana wasn't happy to accept at first. She supposed those images from before had stayed with the Captain and she was going to do everything in her power to prevent them from happening. It was hard not to get involved, part of her felt obligated to return to her Division out of respect and responsibility, but part of her also remembered about the second life she was supposed to be protecting; she couldn't risk even the simplest of falls now.

Most of the debate was between the two Captains while she spent her time in the bathroom, releasing whatever was left in her stomach. Isane kept her company whenever she could, pausing as she ran between patients to make sure she was still doing well.

As odd as it was to think of at a time like this… she wondered what he would've thought of the situation. There would be no way of telling him, but still she questioned if he would've shared the same scientific thoughts as her Captain did… the two seemed so much alike. Or would his linear thoughts take a different route… would he even care for that matter?

"_You look so different up close…" _

_Fingertips moved to touch and trace the soft curve of her jawline, the white material of his gloves worked well against her skin and she felt how he seemed to use the quiet moment to observe her further. She was almost certain he could feel the thundering of her heart as it pounded in her chest and vibrated in her throat. The previous conflict was enough to irritate her heart rate… but now she was certain it was from the closer contact between them. _

_This wasn't supposed to happen, but with him right in front of her at this moment, common sense and rational thinking did not seem to pertain to them. Ripped away at the transition between the human world and Soul Society, she remembered the tight grip that bruised her arms and forced her into this world instead… she remembered how he threw her against the wall and pinned her there. It didn't really seem necessary though, she didn't have the chance to fight back and after figuring out who he was, she chose not to. _

"_Is that to your disappointment?"_

_The question seemed to startle him almost as though he never expected her to reply in any way. At this close distance, she could spot the soft-shade of amber that colored his eyes and realized she had never witnessed anyone carrying that kind of gene before; long eyelashes accompanied the isolated amber shade and only added more to that… undisclosed appeal he carried with him. _

"_More so to my amusement." _

_Slowly, she convinced her fingers to move upward and touched them briefly against his lower lip, detecting the minor tremble that passed underneath the contact. "Why me?" _

"_Why not?" his response was simplistic and easy enough to follow. "After months of callous, distant observations, you weren't the least bit curious?" _

_Of course she was, but she wasn't given the open opportunity to explore it; she suppressed the questioning and curiosity in hopes it would let her go about her days in peace… He had the authority to test it out though while she could only sit back and deal with the thoughts and wonder what he was like. Perhaps it was a good thing that he invoked a situation like this._

_It was an empty affair between dimensions, between different worlds… and while the list of cons was practically tumbling around her feet, she was far more focused on those eyes of his instead. Up until this point, they had both been capable of rational, intellectual thinking, in this one moment though, they were both all the more willing to throw it away._

_She barely even noticed the way his hands moved to loosen the tight obi sash around her midsection; untying the red string that kept it strung together. Pieces and articles of clothing slowly tumbled down to litter the floor around her, unveiling more and more skin than was ever intended. _

"_What's your name?"_

_Words whispered against her barren lips as dressed fingertips traced empty shapes into her skin. _

"_Kurotsuchi." _

"_Grantz."_


	2. Chapter 2

Things tried to go on without much suffering.

She eventually returned to her Division, after an elongated debate between the sparring Captains that resulted in a list of restrictions and limits that he wasn't allow to cross- under no circumstances anyways. It reduced her to handling just paperwork… something she could easily do but felt as though it wasted her true potential in Division Twelve. But as Captain Unohana and Isane herself had listed, at this point, just about any kind of vapor, fume or chemical could prove fatal to the unborn child.

Unborn_ thing_ as many others had described…

She couldn't blame them, those same thoughts had crossed her once or twice before.

This kind of offspring… she supposed it didn't really have a name. It wasn't human, it wouldn't be Shinigami and it wouldn't be Hollow; it was a mix, a hybrid of something in between those two. Would it deserve it's own category? It's own name and title to be stuffed into a research novel that would be published in a few years. Groundbreaking news, right? Asides from his initial dismay at the news, her Captain had shifted his mood just ever so slightly… enough to be noticed by her and not many others. Because this was a first time event and had very little chance of being recreated by someone else, he was pretty much at the front of a scientific, revolutionary breakthrough; no one could compete with him, not Captain Unohana, not even Urahara… of course that would put him into a good mood.

In a sense, she was finally proving to be of some worth to him.

And that was a good thing, right?

He didn't have to deal with the cold sweats, constant tremors and the continuous feeling of exhaustion. The fatigue drove her to be unconscious for days at a time without any realization of the passing time. What felt like just a few hours of sleep turned into three days and it was progressively getting longer every time she closed her eyes. She couldn't really understand why Isane had looked so worried when she woke up from the latest incident… at least until the woman explained that she had been out for almost a week and a half. It was a strange side effect, certainly not one of normal proportions, but she supposed it seemed suitable at best. This thing that was growing inside of her was fighting her just the same; her body was trying to shut itself down into a hibernating state to better adjust to the situation. She kept fighting it though, knowing well that she still needed to get things done and try to keep herself from losing the little bit of importance she had to this Division.

Sometimes it was just easier to sleep though.

That way she didn't have to deal with the bleeding.

She didn't have to deal with the constant feeling as though something was chewing through her insides. Pain bounced from one end of her ribcage to the next until it settled into the pit of her stomach, churning and twisting till it brought her to her knees. She tried not to let it get in her way though… as hard as that was on some days.

But she guessed it might've been a little harder for the being inside of her. It was growing in a body that it half recognized and half hated, that was if it was possible for their differentiating energies to merge together; one would definitely be dominate over the other and with just these first few symptoms… she was beginning to wonder if it was a little Hollow taking control.

There wasn't a heartbeat when it was checked for, but Captain Unohana assured that it was just too early to determine that for sure. She said they would try again around twenty weeks or so and see what there was to see… the simple thought of that created an unsettled feeling inside of her. It was difficult to understand; she guessed a lot of it had to be put on how outside factors were affecting her. She didn't leave the Twelfth Division barracks anymore and the few times that she did… it didn't exactly help her all that much. The talking was still there, but no one bothered to hide it anymore; the details and words were intensified and there was no lack of strange looks directed at her. They were easy to ignore during their appearances, but those cold night sweats that destroyed her sleeping schedules when she was most vulnerable flooded her memory with those ill-toned phrases.

She didn't blame them… it was true… everything they said after all.

And yet she couldn't bring herself to think those kinds of things towards that little flicker of life that was feeding off of her. It wasn't like this whole mess was its fault. If anything, she was more to blame than it was.

It.

She kept referring to the offspring as that, didn't she? It would be a long time before they'd be able to determine the sex of the child… but she managed to convince herself to refer to it as a girl, because it was essentially an extension of herself. Whether or not that would stay true in the distant future, she would have to wait and see…

The time spent in her Division house felt like it was slowly draining her of any ounce of artificial life she bore in her test-tube veins. When the words of another visit to the human world came up, she offered to go along despite her condition- which was the first thing everyone brought up. She assured them that the transfer into her gigai wouldn't affect her condition and that it was highly doubtful that, in the off chance that it does, the damages would prove any significance. There were concerns about her safety and health, Captain Unohana didn't want to risk the chance that she could possibly be injured in the moving between the dimensions; Captain Mayuri didn't wish to give someone the chance to mess up the rarity of this situation, he didn't want to lose the research they had going; and Isane… she was afraid that the entire situation that gave start to this was going to repeat itself, she was certain there were going to be Hollows there.

In the end, she was granted permission to go.

How the odds managed to swing into her favor, she wasn't sure… but they did and that relieved her for once. It would be a nice break from the confining environment around her, but she'd only be fooling herself if she said that was her only reason. If anyone else had known about the truth behind this severe circumstance, the motive would be easy to give up. She just… wanted to see if he was there, just this once.

If he wasn't, then things would go on as they were.

If he was… she didn't know.

The human world felt odd against her skin and even worse as it circulated through her airways and blood streams. She kept a straight face with it and went about with the expedition team, keeping herself close with the group as they collected their needed samples. A few members were ordered to keep a close eye on her, but she watched as they progressively moved further and further away instead; their minds working on a dozen things at once and trying to switch between whichever topic needed their attention the most. It would've been easy to slip away… but she had assured both Captain Unohana and Isane that she would be careful on this trip.

She had no intentions of breaking her word to the both of them.

From what she could tell though… he wasn't here anyways. She didn't know why she thought he would be here, or why she was even looking forward to seeing him again. As far as he was probably concerned, he got what he wanted; his curiosity was satisfied.

And just like many others had done so before, he probably tossed her aside with little given to second thoughts. On any normal basis, it wouldn't have bothered her and she would've been okay with it… this was different though, wasn't it?

"Uh, excuse me, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi?"

She glanced up at the quiet call and watched as a pale-skinned Division member approached her. His gigai dressed in a suiting, semi-formal attire with a black vest over a white dress shirt to match the dark slacks and colorless belt around his narrow waist; discolored locks were neatly pulled back into a small ponytail and revealed the multitude of piercings that dangled off of one ear. "Yes."

"We need to gather some test samples from one more location, but we're already stretched thin enough as it is…"

She knew where this was going without having the man finish his sentence. "Where's the next location? I'll be able to handle the sample collections on my own."

And just like that, they had forgotten again about their duties to her… but she wouldn't remind them. She just took the needed paperwork and went about her way. Isolation and seclusion… she could use those right about now. Her body was overreacting to this world and she wanted to hide that weakness from the others. They probably wouldn't recognize it or they would kid her into thinking they didn't notice it; she was smarter than that though, smarter than them.

She let herself become immersed into this mismatched world and tried to find some kind of comfort in the cool breeze that played with the ends of her bangs. It felt like every set of eyes were drawn into her direction, pinned to her as they watched her ever so carefully. It wasn't necessarily something new she supposed… it did make her rethink the rather shortened outfit she had been fitted to wear though. Had it been any other mission, she wouldn't have found the looks to be daunting, but they made her want to leave as quickly as she could this time around.

The gentle rustling of the leaves above her helped to calm the unsettling thoughts as she tried to remain focused on the task at hand. The device they used to record the different energy levels around them was usually a complex-looking machine that only Division Twelve members knew how to operate, but for the sake of moving around in the human world, it was outfitted with a difference appearance; it was shrunk down into a cellular device-looking piece and could be operated with a few button clicks. So far, no one seemed to think otherwise of it, which meant the prototype was working its way into being a success. Even she was surprised by how efficient it worked with just a few clicks given at the proper time.

Green eyes watched as several numerical readings ran back and forth across the screen, ascending with significant differences as the decimal point was pushed further and further back. It was enough to cause her to stop briefly and look up into the surroundings around her. From what several signs had said and given the landscape outline, the small park seemed to offer little more than a few walking paths and an outfitted entertainment course for small children… It didn't exactly seem like a place for readings like these. They weren't high enough to cause a stir but they did confirm some kind of previous engagement. Either several low-leveled Hollows were about and close by, or… a higher-leveled one had just left and his energy residue was left behind.

The numbers just kept going up though… and then they stopped.

She passed it off as a fluke; perhaps the machine wasn't working as well as they had thought.

Still, for that brief moment, there was just that small glimmer of… something.

When they returned to the Division house and handed in their reports, the high numbers were briefly questioned but didn't go much further than that. She was almost certain someone would have brought them up but Captain Mayuri gave a brief grumble and that was it. Levels like those would have to be accompanied by a sighting in order for it to be reported and everyone said they didn't see anything out on the streets… Maybe it had been just a fluke.

Why did she feel so disappointed that she didn't get to see him?

Why was she expecting so much from him?

It left her conflicted and raw on the inside… What did she want from him?

When Isane asked if she wanted to drop by the Fourth Division barracks to hang out for a little bit, she declined the offer. As much as she enjoyed company from time to time, she wasn't really in the mood for it right now… not to mention the woman would only want to ask her how the mission went, and she didn't want to talk about it. She was almost certain she wouldn't be able to hide her sense of disappointment; perhaps it would be okay since most people couldn't read her emotions anyways, or maybe even her lack thereof. It was passed off that she had some last-minute reports to do and would be busy the rest of the day, but if she had more time tomorrow, then they could get together.

Maybe by tomorrow she would feel better.

Captain Mayuri was running experiments for the rest of the day, so she wasn't allowed to be in or even near the labs… which didn't leave her with all too many options. After spending a majority of the day in the human world, she could use a good shower… just to clear her head.

And yet, the cold water that rained down over her seemed to do the exact opposite of that. Fingers pushed through her black strands as she felt the water weigh them down into straight locks that touched at the curve of her lower back; hands curved over the back of her neck as she felt her muscles already start aching again. Even at this point, she felt odd in her own skin, knowing she was sharing it with someone else.

A few more weeks had passed since the initial report.

Was it thirteen weeks now?

She didn't know, most of the time had been spent being unconscious in some kind of comatose-like sleep. It was pretty obvious though… it had taken her some time to notice the changes, but now that she did, they were impossible to ignore. Her breasts were a little sore and in the past few weeks, they had certainly broken a seam or two in her uniform before she had it resized. There was a small pop of her stomach as it created just a small rounded shape outwards, barely noticeable underneath her obi sash but underneath the rain of water from the showerhead… it was all she could see.

But inside of her, tiny little eyes were developing while bones and the skull were solidifying; the ribcage would be soon to follow. Vocal cords and the larynx were nearing completion and the intestinal system was right where it was anatomically supposed to be.

And with every passing week, the offspring would become more and more developed until she represented the perfect combination everyone was looking forward to. Until she would become something they all wanted to examine and research, until there were novels of books and studies written about her; she would probably even go on display once or twice for the show of it.

_It's disgusting…_

She caught herself thinking long before she could stop herself… and yet the words seemed to match perfectly with the given mood. She wasn't anything but a host to this new being… that was the scientific look at it, the scientific description of a parasite. But willing to fight that explanation was how medicine looked at the process as a delicate cycle in life, in which case only the female body had the strength to create and carry a being like this. They were always at each other's necks though, weren't they? Science and Medicine could find no middle ground with one another and always went for the other's throat, willing to sink into a vulnerable theory or statement.

But which side did she want to stand on? What side did she find herself connecting the most with?

More importantly, would she even be given a choice on the matter of it?

No, perhaps not.

But the illusion of it was decent though…

_The warm contact of his lips against her skin made the different vertebra of her spine shudder as he followed seemingly invisible trails that marked over her body. Numb fingertips pressed against the back of his neck, feeling the oddity of his flesh where black ink spoiled the flawless design of his form; hands cupped against his muscles and felt how they gingerly flexed at the tease of her touch._

_It was an odd, strange embrace that brought them here…_

_A strange and odd obsession that pushed them to this empty brink._

_And yet, the pulsating friction of his body moving against her own was becoming unbearable to dispute… in that empty, once animated mind of hers, all she think of was the rush of chemicals that were causing this reaction. He was the only one to come this close to touching her like this, or at least the only one who showed interest in doing so. His fingertips were cruel but forgiving as they bore heavy marks against her, reminding her again and again of his presence that she could never forget._

_The movement of his lips shifting to claim her own repeated the same experiments they had done so many times moments before; the silk taste of his tongue against her own stirred up emotions and nerves she didn't think existed. Even as eager as the embrace seemed with a touch of roughness, he knew what to do and gladly took her with him into this messed up escapade of sweat and sheets. Sometimes it felt like those lips were crushing her own, but she wanted that kind of touch… she wanted to test the pure, raw reaction from them. It was a like a test to see how much of her own body she knew, and he was making her fail again and again with every new embrace._

_Fingers brushed through pink strands and tangled themselves in the soft locks, knowing well this kind of contact would never occur again. She wanted to memorize every detail there was to him… she wanted to know every contour, every flaw, every inch that was to his form…_

_The brief separate for air was clouded by broken gasps as their lungs cried out for more oxygen and less euphoria. Green eyes broke loose from staring at the inside of her eyelids and looked up into the amber ones that hovered above her. The would be awkwardness of his hollow-piece, framed glasses did little to deter them and she barely even noticed their presence most of the time. And yet, he still took the brief moment to push them up to settle more comfortably against the bridge of his nose. That one little act that had helped to draw her in to him in the first place still held its affect on her now._

_Fingertips moved to brush against the solid frames, feeling the tight grooves that decorated the edges of them. He barely reacted to the motion before he brought his lips back against her own._

_"Am I just a specimen to you?"_

_His voice was low, just a little bit husky and yet his words rolled out smoothly against her. Fingers moved to touch at the curve of his jawline and for a moment, she swore she felt his lips tremble._

_"Am I just a victim to you?"_

_Her return question failed to give him the answer he so desired and yet he didn't appear the least bit put off by it. If anything, it sparked a small fire of interest and curiosity in those eyes of his… the strange and rare amber shade flared up to match his mood._

_"Would both our answers be yes?"_

_Tracing the soft shape of his lower lip once more, she dared herself to move just an inch closer to him; feeling that familiar warmth of contact all over again. And when she spoke, her lips moved with his own… it was like he already knew the answer she was going to give before it left her, or perhaps it was just her lips guiding his into the simple syllable._

_"Yes."_


	3. Chapter 3

Pain erupted from the back of his skull and shot its way down his neck before it reversed its path and stabbed at the back of his eyes.

This was the fifth day he had woken up with a migraine like this…

It dirtied his skin with slick layers of sweat that formed beads down his forehead and made him hate how every movement reminded him of the tight, ugly coat that dressed his flesh. Fingers moved to push his pink strands aside, holding them away from his skin as a few unfortunate locks stuck to him. It wasn't usually uncommon that he would suffer from migraines… but it was rare for them to cause almost full body pain like this one did. He had barely managed to pull himself out of bed before the pain struck him like this.

It was more like a mental game though.

There was no logical reason for his body to be aching like this…

It felt like it belonged to something else… something he couldn't exactly put his finger on at this moment. It almost hurt too much for him to be thinking right now.

Managing to pull himself into the bathroom, he hit the side of the faucet to bring out a rush of water from the tap; shoving his hands underneath the rush of water, he leaned forward just enough to splash the cold liquid across his face. Hopefully it would wake him up from this migraine-filled morning… or at least allow for him to get some clarity. One hand moved to push up on his glasses before he pinched at the empty space between his eyes.

What the hell was up with him lately?

He could run some test on it but he had a feeling there wasn't going to be much in the results. This didn't feel like some kind of physical problem… it was seeded too deeply to be something like that. He knew how his body was supposed to function and right now there was nothing out of place. So whatever was going on, it didn't have anything to do with him at this given moment. Maybe it was some kind of energy-based reaction.

Whatever the reason was, he didn't have time to deal with it. He had meetings scheduled all morning; he couldn't deal with something like this on top of those headaches already. Whatever, he had better things to do other than to sit around and complain. Pushing himself away from the counter, he made his way over to the shower that had been stuck into one corner and reached in to switch on the faucets. He stripped off what few articles of clothing he kept on during his sleep before he stepped into the ceramic tomb; feeling the near scolding heat of the water burn its way across his skin. Hands moved to push through his locks and hold them away from his face, allowing for the rushing water to run through the collective strands.

It helped to settle his migraine some but not by a lot.

He probably just picked up something from the human world the last time he was there… he should be more careful next time, if there was going to be one anyways. At this point, the few headhonchos in charge didn't really care much for what they did during the day- just as long as they didn't provoke anyone's attention. No one else bothered to take advantage of the given opportunities but he made sure to pick up on it whenever the moment arose; he enjoyed taking his time in observing the human world for what little it had to offer him. Every now and again, if he was lucky, a small team of Shinigamis in disguises would drop in and try to seek out Hollow activity. They didn't seem to be doing their jobs very well and often time missed out completely on the noticeable threats.

There was only one Shinigami who managed to catch sight of him though.

Again and again.

It was easy to tell from every returning mission that she didn't give in to their shared acknowledgement. He would've assumed had she let it spill, there would've been more fighters and less researchers the next time around… but the next team was actually smaller than the last. It was an odd predicament but he found himself seeing it more with a light sense of amusement than anything else; it seemed to be a reaction she shared just the same. He didn't know why he found her to be so intriguing, perhaps because they had open sight to one another and yet exchanged no other words to anyone else. It was a game almost.

One that he wanted to make sure he won.

There was that rush of adrenaline during that initial attack. He knew a certain group of Hollows were going to try their hand at striking the team for the hell of it and he saw no problem with riding on the back of it; he just wanted to make sure none of them touched the one he wanted.

That first initial touch of their skin was exhilarating, and while he shared minor regrets that she obtained slight injuries during the exchange, there was no remorse for the needed actions. She was far more interesting up close to where he could see every detail she had to give and touch at the form that was recognizable even from a long distance away.

And maybe even more so… she seemed to share that same adrenaline rush.

What happened afterwards was one for the books and not an ounce of him regretted getting caught up in the flesh of a Shinigami. He had cut open and dissected plenty of them before but she… she was such a stimulating case; he couldn't control himself. Everything about her from the time of their first contact to when he pinned her against the wall before him, every little detail matched up with what he predicted of her. She was the perfect specimen, the perfect victim…

He had managed to forget about her the following days after their final encounter but as of recently, she began to dwell back into his thoughts. His latest trip to the human world was just a test… one that failed when he couldn't get a lock on her anywhere close by. It was foolish to do but even he could get lost in the third wheel of emotion.

Something about her was still drawing him in.

It was almost ridiculous to think of how eager he was to follow it.

She was just a simple Shinigami.

He was the Eighth Espada.

But that subtle sense of hesitation that followed with her lips responding to his own… that faint trace of eagerness that imprinted from her fingertips to his flesh… it was impossible to ignore. If anything, she made it possible to overlook every little detail between them. In that one moment, they were just bodies of flesh and nothing else.

Reaching forward, he cut off the shower knobs and waited a moment against the ceramic to allow for the loose water droplets to roll off his skin. He gave a brief shake of his head before he moved to step back out, making sure to grab the white towel from nearby to wrap it around his waist. She had a strong grip, he had to give her that… it took a few days before the bruises healed; it made him wonder how long it took for her damages to disappear. Pushing his wet strands back away from his face, he moved into his room once more and moved his hand across a wall panel to open up the closet on the other side. In careful, organized lines of hangers, was almost the same uniform repeated again and again… a few of them showed some signs of variations, but they all kept the same look. White and black, white and black. He didn't really bother with which one he pulled loose; they were all the same after all.

He finished drying off the different wet patches of skin before he eventually slipped the tight-fitting material on over his flesh; it clung to his still warm body with little effort and bundled somewhat uncomfortably around his rounded shoulders. The shower did little to help his migraine… but he didn't have any time to bitch. There were plenty of things he had to do and he didn't like wasting any more of his time.

"You're looking a little worse for wear."

The voice drug his attention away as he stepped out of his bedroom; eyes slowly lifting up to see who the words could have belonged to… a brief sneer toyed with his lips at the sight of the owner.

"I highly doubt you can say much for yourself." He retorted, pulling the door tightly closed behind him before he moved to step forward; fingers tugging the cuff of his sleeves to ensure they covered over his gloves. "You have two oddly shaped heads floating around in a large glass of strange fluid. I don't even know what the hell that liquid is or how it's even able to function with the rest of your body… so I don't think you can go around remarking on everyone else's appearance."

The other figure offered his own frown before he gave a simple shake of his head. The previous description would only seem suiting for his true form… the body he controlled now was just a form of one of his more recent victims. He seemed to be taking a liking to the body or he was still breaking it in. Black locks of hair were styled rather uncoordinatedly and seemed to stick out in all directions; matching black eyes were narrowed and formed into a slender, almond shape that brought out the angular cut of a jawline. Frame and built wise, it was smaller than some of his other forms, but it was a human- or rather previous Shinigami- so that might have had something to do with it. To say it was odd to see another figure wearing the Ninth's assigned uniform was a downplay on the word…

"I take back what I said, you just look like shit."

Fingers moved to rub at his temples once more as the man continued with his remarks- giving out words that he no longer cared for. Moving past where the man was leaning against one of the lab counters, he tried to leave the conversation behind him and focus more so on the list of experiments he needed to get up and running today. They were useless matters but he needed something to distract himself and keep him from going insane in this desolate place… He might just risk another visit to the human world for a mild sense of entertainment.

"How the hell did you even get in here, Aaroniero?"

He enjoyed his privacy above all else, almost going out of his way to form an enclosure of some kind to keep himself inside and everyone else out… Unfortunately, there were still some flaws in those blueprints, seeing as from time to time a figure will manage to sneak in as such and break his concentration. He had actually planned to put in a new defense prototype later on that day; perhaps he should've put the plans in motion sooner though.

"I had to break a few arms of your Fraccion members." The other man briefly snorted in answer.

"Great, now I have to listen to them bitch about it…" he retorted, making his way halfway across the room before he reached for the black, leather notebook he was in search for. It was still settled on the flat surface of the countertop he had left it at a few hours before, which was good seeing as his things some times had a habit of disappearing the moment he turned his back on them. Fingers peeled away the thick cover and quickly moved through the silk pages to review what he had written down the day before. "Is there a reason for you to be here or are you just doing it to piss me off?"

"What other reason is there for me to be here other than to ruin your day?"

"You make a solid, undeniable point."

A thick sigh escaped the other man as he gave another shake of his head before he eventually pushed himself to his feet, straightening up his lanky figure. "I thought about making an errand run to the human world, I figured you've been going there quite frequently as of recent times, so maybe you'd want to tag along."

He wasn't particularly interested in what kind of errand the Ninth was looking to complete, knowing how the man functioned though… it was probably best to not look further into the matter. There had been that brief consideration of checking back in with the human world, but he preferred to work solitarily on those visits. It wasn't just because he held a sense of hatred towards the other inhabitants here, if anything the Ninth was one of few he could tolerate… he just preferred to be alone in the case she was there as well.

The last thing he needed was for her to become a victim to someone other than himself.

"As tempting as the offer is, I think I'll have to decline it for now."

"Surprise, surprise." The Ninth remarked, a low whistle moving with his words.

Something in his tone, in the way he carried himself… something about it didn't seem quite right. Or at least it wasn't settling well with him. It did beckon to his sense of curiosity though and he couldn't help but to try and evaluate the man's movements, picking up on the rather overly confident way he carried himself- acting like there was something he knew that wasn't already tucked into his own, higher sense of intelligence.

It was suspicious.

And he hated it.

Fingers moved to push up on his glasses as he edged his sight away from the filled pages in front of him and tacked onto the approaching figure. "Yes well, unlike some people here, I try to use my time wisely." His comment was made to be sharp and struck quickly. "My reason for decline is one for only myself, if you have a problem with that, then I suppose that's a matter you will have to figure out on your own; I don't have time for explanations."

Perhaps he was trying too hard to shift the conversation point.

It seemed to be evident to the other Espada, who only narrowed his eyes at the given words.

"I had no intentions of questioning your response, just like you I'd prefer not to waste my time on senseless matters that will only clutter up my air." Aaroniero spoke, clicking the tip of his tongue against the back of his teeth. "While I find your frequent visits questionable, I'm sure you have a greater reason for them… a reason I don't plan to squander my time with; it is suspicious though, there's no denying that."

A crude chuckle made its escape from behind his pale lips; he had to hand it to the man and congratulate his sense of defensive manipulation. He set up the conversation to say he didn't care for his reasons but dropped the subtle hints that they did not go without notice either. In any other situation, he suppose that kind of technique was meant to pressure and corner him… but he had long since risen above those mind games. "And just the same, I could question your motives for wishing to go there now… and why you seem so persistent with dragging me along."

It was the other man's turn to crack a brief grin at the turn of the subject, the corner of his lips peeling back into a broken, creepy expression; a grin that stood to mirror that same, bonelike one that was permanently etched across of the heads in his true form. "Let's just say that Loly likes to make some extravagant demands… and I intend to keep up with them regardless of what I have to do to get them right."

This was the exact reason why he didn't wish to partake in questioning the man's original motives for going to the human world.

Ever since the Ninth got around to tangling himself up with one of the female Arrancars who stood pretty at Aizen's side… it had been nothing but trouble for the both of them. And sleepless nights for everyone else involved. Sometimes it sounded like the two were murdering each other… it made him partly thankful that he had installed soundproof material in most of the labs. The term trouble didn't even seem to bother the Ninth as he showed no signs of slowing down for the black-haired woman who had garnered far too much of his attention.

It was an animalistic strike really.

They weren't capable of love and rarely even so of affection… but they all still shared the hate of suffering in the cold nights.

Still… one would think he would've treaded more carefully.

He frowned at the answer and tried to turn his attention back to the notebook in hand, knowing that he'd have to erase those words from his memory later on. "I knew there was a reason I didn't wish to question your motives like that… I know you all too well, Aaroniero, and sometimes I wish I didn't hold that kind of information about you."

The remark only seemed to further the figure's grin as he moved to lean against the edge of the table just opposite of him. "At least it gives me a decent reason to skip over a dimensional wall or two. You, on the other hand, I can't say that you've got much to cover your own back."

There was a soft rolling motion in his eyes at the given response.

"Observation. That's all I have to give."


	4. Chapter 4

Twenty weeks.

She had an appointment with Captain Unohana that morning, but she couldn't convince herself to move; her entire body felt like it was being weighed down, her joints and muscles ached to the point of being useless in a sense. It was just a physical ailment at this point… mentally, she felt like she was in a better, more stable place in keeping her thoughts together.

It was halfway over though.

From the things she had read, it was supposed to get easier after this point. It certainly didn't feel like it but… it all varied from person to person though; there were some horror stories it felt like she could relate to, but she wasn't in need of immediate hospitalization, so she had that to be thankful for.

Another glance at the clock told her it was nearing closer and closer to nine.

The same time as her appointment… and she didn't want to keep Captain Unohana waiting or cause for any concern.

It felt like her entire body groaned as she pushed herself up and slipped her legs over the edge of the bed; the cold touch of the floor against the bottom of her feet managed to finally jolt her awake enough to finish the movement. It was taking heavier pushes to get herself to settle on her feet, her legs having to bear more of the brute weight that her spine was trying to balance out. The familiar sparks of pain every now and again were a little lighter this morning but still obvious enough for her to notice whenever she moved. Hands reached out and lightly grabbed the uniform she had tossed aside the night before, slipping into it with only some minor difficulty. Because of her growing form in the last few weeks, she had to put in a request for another uniform; the one that was delivered was the standard one that everyone else wore. And while it felt a little odd to be wearing something other than her usual wear, it did give her a few different attributes for relief. It hid her rounded stomach with ease and the fabric sash was more comfortable than her obi one. The loose fabric was less likely to stick to her skin, but was a lot easier to get caught on things.

Still, it was a little easier to step out into public fully dressed than out in her usual uniform that bore almost everything.

Making her way out of the Twelfth Division barracks, it was a long walk to Division Four that would bear down on her already throbbing ankles. But it wasn't the first time she had made this walk, so there was no sense in complaining over it. This early in the morning found most officers either training or running short errands, so there weren't all that many out to stare or gossip. Although at this point she found it hard to believe that there was anything new to talk about after this kind of passage of time… she supposed she could be wrong just the same though. Stifling a soft yawn, she gave into a light stretch to try and rid her back of the painful cramp that had settled in overnight. She suspected it was from all the tossing and turning last night but with the offspring consistently kicking her in vital organs, it was a little hard to ignore; she had hoped with a little bit of movement, she could get shift the offspring away from her bruised kidneys and pointed in another direction. It had worked from time to time but for a majority of the night, the child kept awake and seemed persistent with keeping her as company.

… She was asleep now though. Thankfully.

In these past few weeks, the movement inside of her had become more apparent, especially so when the child figured out where the base of her spine was. It was the occasional catch of surprise and drop of whatever was in her hands when her spine was struck, forcing her to take a momentary break to get over the initial shock and pain.

She supposed there were the few good moments too though, even though the frustrating ones were easier to list. There were those brief breaking moments, in the occasional mornings she was allowed to sleep through, where she woke up to the simple press of little hands that were seeking out her own. Randomly throughout the day, she felt the offspring seek her out and she found out that if she didn't immediately response, the child tried harder to locate some kind of responding touch; she wasn't one to give up so easily and she wondered if that was one of the reasons she kept her awake most of the time.

She just wanted to make sure she wasn't alone.

Glancing up as the Fourth barracks came into sight, she moved to enter the front area but paused momentarily as she watched the silver-haired Lieutenant step out. The woman didn't seem to immediately notice her, probably because of the change of uniform, but it didn't take the long for her to catch on to her mistake.

A light frown caught the corners of her lips as she stopped in mid-step. "I was just coming to get you."

"It's already past nine." She answered. "I'm late enough as it is."

"Captain Unohana would have been understanding, besides I didn't want you making that kind of a walk by yourself." Isane replied, finding that it wasn't worth arguing since she was already here now. Shaking her head lightly, she stepped aside and allowed for the other Lieutenant to step past her and into the lobby. Turning after her, she moved to guide her down the correct corridor where Captain Unohana would be waiting for the both of them. "You look tired this morning, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine." She nodded, trailing a few steps behind the taller woman.

"Baby kept you up all night again?" she questioned, watching as the Lieutenant nodded in response. She supposed the answer to that was pretty obvious but it still didn't hurt to ask. "It must be getting really restless."

She would believe it. And the offspring wasn't the only one with that feeling.

"Captain Mayuri has another expedition to the human world planned this afternoon, I'm hoping I'll be more alert by then so I can properly manage the team."

"You're planning on going again?" Isane queried, showing a light sense of worry in her expression. "You don't think that's a little too dangerous at this stage?"

Dangerous? She didn't really consider using that word to describe the situation… but perhaps it was a more appropriate word choice. "We're just studying the areas for Hollow activity, the past few expeditions have showed high levels but no sightings as of yet; the numbers can't be denied though and Captain Mayuri's not going to risk overlooking something."

"But what if there is a Hollow there or an Arrancar, what then?"

"Our teams are well equipped to handle that kind of situation should it occur." She answered, catching the woman in the midst of a quick response before she stopped herself and decided to keep the words private. She had a feeling she knew what the woman was going to say and was partly glad she had decided to keep the response to herself. "It's the only way I can be useful to my Division at this moment."

The other Lieutenant remained in silence and stayed that way for the rest of the corridor until she directed her into the room at the end. The enclosed area was small and held a single examination bed in the center of the room, briefly surrounded by a few medical machines that she couldn't immediately identify… or perhaps she just didn't care to. The Fourth Division Captain was seated at a small desk on the far side but got to her feet at their combined arrival.

"I was wondering when you two were going to finally show up." She smiled. "Now then, let's see what this baby looks like."

…

…

It was a girl.

Just as she had predicted.

It was a little strange to see a portrait of the child displayed on the screen before her; the image quality not exactly the best but outlines of little hands and feet were noticeable. From what the female Captain could tell, everything seemed to be in place and the child seemed healthy, given that two of her fingers on her right hand appeared as though they were fused together. She assured that it could've been the angle the child was at or that if it wasn't different sometime down the road, that it would be an easy surgical fix; just a minor incision between the two fingers and a short healing period. She didn't really bother herself with it… as long as it wasn't something fatal or abnormal, the both of them would be okay.

Despite the fourth Lieutenant's objections, she made it back to the Twelfth Division in time to catch up with the expedition team. She kept the woman's words in the back of her mind though as she ran through one last inventory check and roll call before they departed to the human world. So far their last few trips had been without sightings and garnered just a little bit of disappointment… she wanted a sighting though, didn't she? She wanted to see something right? No matter how dangerous it would be…

She assumed she would've gotten over it by now but that lingering feeling continued to glue itself to her again and again. One could blame the ultrasound procedure from this morning and the reveal of the offspring for the sudden urge to see him again… after all, he had the right to know as well, didn't he? Maybe the others wouldn't see it the same way but she did and that's all that was needed. But she tried not to look too far ahead of herself for now, it always seemed to settle into disappointment later.

The human world showed no signs of change physically, although the small machine in hand said otherwise. Just like the times before, the small group found themselves dissipating as everyone lost interest in what the other was doing and went about their own way. She was more drawn to the systematic reading of the machine than to what the other officers were doing and soon enough found herself rather isolated once more. It was a feeling she rather appreciated at a time like this seeing as it allowed for her to freely act however she wished… not that it was any different than before. It was the appeal of it that mattered though.

"Oh my goodness, look at you."

The strange voice caught her attention just before a foreign hand moved to touch at the outer curve of her stomach; eyes were immediately drawn to the strange face that grinned at her… a face she had never seen nor recognized. The woman barely seemed to take note of her look of dismay at the sudden act and appeared more glued to how her signature black dress did little to hide the rounded portion of her stomach.

"How far along are you?"

It took a step back away from the woman before she seemed to finally notice her look of disapproval at the act. A quick flush of crimson rushed across her face before she quickly departed and headed into another direction. Part of her wondered if all human women acted on impulse as such… or if this had just been a special case. She made sure to make a note that if she were to join any other future expeditions, then she should look into getting another uniform change. It was rather uncomfortable to have someone else's touch against her, let alone on her overactive stomach; although, as far as she could tell, the offspring was still in the process of her usual afternoon nap.

Pushing the matter from her mind, she turned back to continue on her path but made it only a few short steps before a sharp sensation spiraling up her spine told her the part about the nap was soon over. The small device in her hand tumbled freely from her loose fingers before it clattered to the concrete below. Luckily the hard case was enough to protect it for the most part, which was good… she'd hate to have to explain to Captain Mayuri that the reason it broke as because she was clumsy- then again, he already expected that from her. The matter of bending down to retrieve it was a little tricky though; her stomach usually got in her way and made it difficult to get back up. She had only started to kneel down before the device disappeared underneath someone's foot and cracked easily as pressure broke its frame clean open.

Even as she watched the scene occur, panic didn't really seem to bother her as much as being able to identify whom the foot belonged to did. Then again, it was a little hard to miss the white sandals, black socks and matching white pants that would have mirrored the uniform she wore that morning.

It was almost funny really…

Despite her somewhat eagerness to run into him again… at this moment, she couldn't even bring herself to look at him. It wasn't like she feared him, but for some reason, she no longer wanted to engage with him.

But she wasn't one to simply turn and walk away, like he would even allow for her to do that anyways… Slowly, she moved her eyes up along the slender form of his body, taking in the subtle details that his uniform left to the vulnerable eyes; she hesitated slightly at a small spot on his chest before she finished the small journey and landed her eyes against his own.

From his immediate expression, there wasn't a lot to see. He usually kept his emotions hidden, which made him a difficult person to try and dissect from a distance… but that's what had put them both into this situation from the beginning, wasn't it? Then again, she supposed she was looking to him with the same expression, the same empty giving feature that left an increasing amount of silence to form between them. It wasn't supposed to go like this. They weren't supposed to be standing like there was an invisible barrier between them.

Then again, she supposed she didn't really know what she was expecting from this. She never really did.

But for a moment, everything seemed to flush itself out of her system; those lingering pains from before and the slight taste of nausea in the pit of her stomach disappeared… and, for a moment, she wondered if it had something to do with him. It was farfetched, but perhaps the offspring could sense that her paternal figure was close by and perhaps his close presence was enough to calm her back to sleep.

"What did that human say to you?"

His first words to her had to be in the form of a question.

"Nothing important." She answered. "I don't really even know where she came from…"

He seemed to believe her enough, after all what she said was true even if it didn't answer his question. The fact that she had bypassed answering him didn't seem to faze him in the least bit though.

The subtle feel of his fingers lightly coming in contact with her cheek stirred up an aged feeling she had tucked away into the back of her head. It would be a waste of time trying to explain something that was already visually obvious… there was a good chance that he didn't consider himself to be one of the active figures in this matter- after all, some people still found it skeptical that it was possible for this to exist, even after twenty weeks; they apparently assumed it was a cover up for something else that wasn't worth her time or attention.

"Is this why you haven't been here for so long?"

He didn't need an exact confession for the sudden roundness of her stomach, the truth of that was a given; he just wanted to know the small details that came off as a result of it. The earlier weeks of this ordeal had left her too exhausted to leave her bed, let alone make visits like this…

"Yes…" she nodded, before her hand moved to brush aside his fingers. "It's too dangerous for you to be here so close to me, especially given the rest of my team is close by-"

He didn't seem to take the brush lightly and moved to gather a more solid hold on the curve of her chin; his grip was tight but more so to cement a studier grasp than anything else. "The closest member is five blocks away… not exactly the greatest running distance and seeing as they're too busy with their faces pressed down into those machines of yours, they wouldn't notice me if I was standing in their path; they would only notice the skyrocketing data that was called back to them."

Five blocks?

Had she really wondered off that much?

It wouldn't really be surprising though, she preferred to keep her distance from them anyways… after all she had been looking forward to seeing him again and by keeping herself isolated, it raised her chances of doing that. And it had worked; it always did after all. "Unfortunately I suppose I won't be able to read my own data set."

There was another loud pop as he purposely shifted his weight to crush the device once more; shattering more of the once sturdy frame and breaking open the display screen. She doubted the motherboard or data strip would be salvageable after that second break, then again they wouldn't really be needed at turn in would they? The damage should say enough.

"I highly doubt it will be needed."

"How far along?"

Now he wanted to know…

"Twenty weeks."

It was an interesting show of expressions running across his face as he tacked back that amount of time and ran through his own set of data. There was a minor onset of questioning that moved to calculation and realization before backtracking to questioning once more… eventually, he arrived at a conclusion though, one that she was curious about.

"Were you-"

"No." she interrupted, already predicting his question ahead of time.

He took a moment before a soft chuckle seemed to move from his lips. "No, of course not… you weren't marked when I set my hands on you."

"And you don't have anything to say about?"

"There's a lot to say about it but hardly enough time to finish the thought." He answered. "By any means, it's impossible… or rather to say, it's never been recorded anywhere else before. I suppose any other incident of it had never occurred, which isn't really all the surprising to be honest. But the fact that it happened at this time, especially given the previous circumstances people in your Society must believe, and that it happened between us… it's very intriguing to say the least. Had this been any other person, I would've shot down the whole idea… but you're not exactly a person of false words, are you? If anything, you're just as curious and fascinated by it. You might hate it just the same too."

"She caused some significant damage along the way and put our medical Division through a state of panic-"

"She?" he interrupted now this time.

It had been a simple manner of speaking, she didn't even realize that she had mentioned it; it hadn't really even occurred to her that this was the first time he had heard about this section of news. Then again, it had only taken this morning to confirm that. "We ran some test this morning to confirm the sex… I had a feeling it would be female regardless though."

"Did the test show anything else?"

Yes.

Yes it did.

"The test also confirmed that, despite vitals being strong and visible… there was no heartbeat, or heart for that matter." That seemed to be the final nail in his theory; there was no other way around the fact of a heartless form being aware and healthy. "She also has a minor fusion between two of her fingers but it should be easy to fix later on."

There was a good chance that it wasn't a medical reason, but more of a hollow piece forming… he just decided not to share that piece of information yet. It was something he wanted to observe first and see if he was correct later on, then again he supposed there was no sense in thinking like that. More than likely, they wouldn't see each other past this point. He'd more than likely never see what this little offspring would look like and part of him was okay with that. That wasn't to say that his curious half didn't dispute the claim though. Something like this didn't come and go so easily or so often…

This was a one of a kind type deal.

It was actually a shame he had missed this much of it already.

"You should go." He started, fingers moving to brush aside a few strands that had fallen into her face. "Those partners of yours are looking for you."

They had probably finished their findings and were ready to head back; it was really the only time they sought out to find her first. "It's getting late, this expedition is close to ending." She agreed briefly. "Would it be too much to ask for you to retrieve that device that's under your foot?"

A light chuckle escaped him before he moved to step off the device; leaning down, he picked up the remains of it and settled the cracked frame and shattered motherboard into her hand. "Will you be making any more trips back?"

"Possibly."

"I'll be looking forward to them."


	5. Chapter 5

When she regrouped with the rest of the officers, she listened to their evaluations of data and heard their different theories over the growing numbers, which had been steadily increasing for months now. One of the men insisted that he had spotted an odd-looking figure before but had almost immediately lost track of it after a brief search.

He had set them up.

He purposely stayed in one central area where they were all located to destroy their readings and even allowed for himself to be spotted once or twice to separate them further. It was a decent scheme, she had that to admit; he thought ahead and knew exactly what to do in a short amount of time. It was admirable even… it was just something she wouldn't admit out loud. Still… she kept the broken device in her hold and mostly out of sight as they moved to transport back to the Society. She hadn't really considered what to say to the questions that would come up, or at least she wasn't sure what would be appropriate to use as an answer.

She didn't want to reveal her position on this whole matter.

But her Captain would not take a simple answer for the loss of this kind of equipment; Isane wouldn't take a simple answer either for who broke it.

He had taken the information rather well though. He had been able to remain calm and collective, asking for very few details only every so often… It might've seemed a little odd, but she knew he needed his time to go over the information himself to fully recognize the situation. If there was another time for them to meet once again, he would more than likely be more responsive and lively on the topic. Until then, however, she would take his first impression as a good sign, although later courses could twist it around and make it something more uncomfortable to deal with.

At least he knew though… that was the only thing she wanted at this point in time.

The chances of anything else occurring from this were far too low to even bother with. And while the prospect of raising an illegitimate child alone would have frightened others, she was more so, in a lack of better words, looking forward to it. It probably wasn't the best mindset and when she considered that she knew nothing about children, let alone an infant… it didn't leave the best kind of situation behind. Regardless, she showed no hesitation on the matter and that had to count for something. One also had to admit that raising a hybrid wasn't exactly written down anywhere either so this would be a new experience for everyone involved.

"And just what happened to this?"

The one question she had been somewhat hoping to avoid, but it came as she transferred the crumpled device from her hand into his own; watching as a few broken frame pieces slipped out of her grasp and tumbled to the floor below. She expected him to be angry; his expression was stiff but unmoving which told of an unspeakable level of anger at this point. Then again this equipment wasn't cheap and they weren't easy to replace either, especially the frame that was still just a prototype.

"Confirmed sighting." She replied, making a note not to make direct eye contact with him. "High level Arrancar. I suspect that he was the cause for the other abnormal recordings."

"High level Arrancar… was it… him?" Isane questioned, the slight break in her voice hinted at the difficulty she had posing the question. It was almost as if she didn't really want the answer.

But that was okay because she didn't want to answer it just the same.

"Yes."

The resulting bit of silence afterwards wasn't the least bit fitting and didn't make her feel any more comfortable. She watched as the woman frowned at the given answer before she passed off a look to the black-haired Captain next to her, catching her brief look of dismay; it wasn't very often the Fourth Captain was present, she guessed it was because of the procedure this morning. Something about it must have called for her to be here… it would've been like she knew something was going to happen though.

"Did he say or do anything?"

Yes again…

Perhaps not the reaction she had been looking for but it was something. Like she had mentioned before, give it a few days before their next encounter and he would be more responsive, he'd react more; he'd have questions, statements, remarks… maybe a touch or two. It shouldn't be something to look forward to, but some part of her wanted to see it… just to know if there was someone else who might've been as interested in this case as she was- and not all for just scientific, exploitation means.

She would just be kidding herself with that though. Because he was just like her Captain in a sense… and even if she wanted to kid herself with that kind of delusion, she supposed at least it gave her something. She didn't know what exactly, but anything to at least give her a piece to work off of. If he wanted nothing to do with her, then so be it, he wouldn't be the first one; if he wanted something, even just a little bit, then she wanted to know. The possibility of them even sharing this kind of situation was next to none, unless one of them was serving as a prisoner for the opposite force. And even then, she wasn't sure which one of them would be worse off.

Her Captain would be merciless.

His chain of command… she didn't know.

"No."

"Are you certain?" The Fourth Lieutenant was persistent but the long wait between her question and the given answer would've been enough to seem suspicious to anyone.

"How did the encounter happen?" Captain Unohana queried instead.

Specific details… of course.

"I was searching the northern point of the park, trying to locate the reason for the high readings. A woman came up and tried to speak with me and when I didn't respond, she quickly departed… he came up soon after, while I was still distracted. I had stumbled slightly and let the device drop, but when I went to retrieve it, he crushed it underneath his foot." She started in answer, pausing briefly as the conversation piece ran through her mind. "We held eye contact for awhile. He left shortly after when the expedition party started to regroup. That's all that happened."

"Wasn't there supposed to be people looking after you?"

"He set them up. He purposely triggered their readings to go up and lead them away one by one in order to create forced isolation. I suppose he could have eliminated them just the same if he wanted to… but I don't believe that was his intentions. He recognized my energy and realized who I was, that was all he wanted."

The second set of silence afterwards was almost as terrible as the first.

She could see the thought process running through them, she could see the shifting in their expressions with every different passing thought; her story and explanation seemed to have brought little comfort to them, if anything… it made things worse.

"If you'll excuse me please, I have to input some of the data that was recovered and make a record of everyone's account of what happened on this expedition. I hope you don't mind my absence."

She just waited for her Captain to give her a brief nod before she moved to leave the group, not waiting for the other two to object. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep everything under wraps… she knew it was wrong and possibly the worst thing to do at a time like this, but she couldn't let it go; she had something to hold on to and even if it was just for a short while, it was more than what she had before.

He said he would be looking forward to seeing her again though…

And for some reason that was enough to set spark to an airless feeling in her chest. The corners of her lips seemed to toy with lifting the second she was out of their sight… but she knew better than to think they'd let her go that easily. One of them was bound to follow after her, bound to personally question if the answers she gave beforehand were true. They would think she was too afraid to give them honesty in front of her Captain, choosing to give an answer that was more suited for him and less likely to irritate him. And perhaps that was true in a sense… she supposed it just depended on who would give chase to her. She hoped they would at least give her a few days to settle down before they sprang something, but that too was a bit of a stretch. All she wanted was some quiet time to herself… was that too much to ask? Then again, in a setting like this, there wasn't time to spare so easily; there were answers to be given so one matter could be brushed aside to make room for the next.

It was nightfall before she heard that subtle knock on her bedroom door.

She wasn't tired in the least bit and had busied herself with sitting in the wide windowsill, watching the rain rush down outside on the other side of the glass. Her uniform from before had been traded out with a loose-fitting top that Hinamori had picked up for her from one of the downtown shops, she said something about how it was supposed to be a maternity sleepwear piece… but she didn't really see how; it wasn't much different from her original uniform to begin with. But it was looser and more comfortable to move in, giving her room to turn and stretch around in without worrying if the fabric was going to bundle or be too short. It was softer than her usual sleepwear though; there was that to appreciate.

She waited for the door to open and watched as another Division member slowly stepped in through the doorway; dark eyes glanced around the small room before they eventually settled on her, not the least bit surprised at her position.

"Kurotsuchi." He spoke as an announcement.

There was a brief pause as she looked him over, taking note of the folders he held in one hand before her attention shifted to the white lab coat that still dressed his shoulders. Part of her was curious as to what the papers contained… but she managed to talk herself out of really questioning it; more than likely, it pertained to nothing she was involved in.

"Akon." She nodded in acknowledgement, not bothering to move from her position though. "It's late, is there something that you need?"

"I have some reports I wanted to go over with you."

"If they do not pertain to the expedition earlier this morning, then there's nothing in those reports that need my eyes." She started, moving to stretch her legs out along the length of the windowsill. A soft kick against her left side said that the offspring was in the process of waking up and moving about inside of the small area that she had; the touch of her hand against the same area provoked a moment of stillness before the child resumed her previous activities.

"A few of them have to deal with that expedition." The man started, fingers flipping through the compressed papers. "The others are a new report on a fresh blood sample we had received from Division Four."

Nothing drew her curiosity in… odd.

Fingers moved to brush aside her dark locks, tucking them behind one ear to keep them from her face. "Is there anything new that I don't already know about?"

"I suppose it depends on what you know."

"There hasn't been anything to escape my range of knowledge as far as I would know. The blood test always show the same results, the same percentage of hollow genetics and the unstable level of chemicals flowing through my veins; the high level of unknown numbers that belong to some unknown source… what else is there to know, Officer Akon?"

He held his own moment of silence as though now realizing the files in his hands were essentially useless. "Nothing I suppose… nothing escapes you, Lieutenant Kurotsuchi; it'd be difficult for you to overlook something."

"Especially when it's kicking me in the side."

He nodded lightly at the remark and she supposed if he was any more human than he might've spared a chuckle or two at her words. Instead, he simply tossed the papers in hand aside as though accepting that they were useless to her now. "I apologize for the intrusion then… it's just Lieutenant Isane requested that I check in on you at a later time."

Just as she had suspected.

"I figured as much."

"Then there's no reason for me to be here then, is there? Now that you know I'm dealing with an outside source, you won't bother with revealing your story."

"What makes you think I have a story?" she questioned, setting her attention to him once more.

"You could call it a hunch." He started as fingers moved to push the door closed behind him. "After all, Captain Mayuri's too busy to notice any changes and Captain Unohana and Lieutenant Isane are too willing to take your word. But you looked different today, at least a little more than you have been recently; that was my first piece of evidence. I won't go into details with the others, I wouldn't want to make myself open to this situation… but I'd like to see if you'd try to disprove me."

She listened to him with caution and took in every word that left his tongue… finding her own sense of vulnerability in them. So she hadn't been as careful as she thought, how foolish of her. But she had been so relieved earlier, it was difficult to not express that in some way, even in the smallest form possible. "Seeing as you are working with an outside party, I won't confirm or deny your suspicions."

"Even if I tell Lieutenant Isane that the amount of work my team has been handling has kept me from leaving my officer for the entire day?"

"… I assure you, Officer Akon, what I have to say is not something I want to be carried around." She started. "The most I will confirm with you is that… when I said I did not exchange words with the present Arrancar, it was not said in truth."

"What manner was it spoken in then?"

"He simply passed on that he wished to see me again."

There was a stilling silence for a moment as the other man seemed to be taking a second or two to organize her words in the back of his head. "Is that so?"

"Although with the admission that he was present and that we crossed paths, I imagine that Captain Unohana will want to restrict my access to the human world; she wouldn't want to risk putting me into another vulnerable position as such… she would think that I've been in too many already."

"You say that in an odd expression."

"I want to see him again too…"

* * *

><p>She supposed the minor hope to let the matter go was too much to ask for.<p>

Just as she predicted, Captain Unohana advised that she miss out on the next few expeditions and take some time to rest instead; after all, the next twenty weeks would be the most tiring seeing as her body would be trying to help the offspring gain extra weight once it was fully developed. She didn't really see how it was any different compared to what she had already experienced… but she supposed she couldn't say much on it either. She just nodded and tried to find something to help her pass the time in the meantime. A few extra reports needed to be reviewed and filed, her fingers tried to keep themselves busy with reorganizing the multitude of cabinets that had been somewhat neglected throughout the years. It was a little mind-numbing and boring for someone of her calibration… but it was better than just sitting around doing nothing; she was thankful to have even the smallest thing to do.

Isane tried to keep her company when she could, but she could always see that look on the woman's face. She was certain the Fourth Lieutenant didn't mean anything by it and didn't even realize it was visible… she just always looked almost afraid whenever they spoke. It would almost seem as though this entire situation was more traumatic for her than anyone else. Of all the Officers in Soul Society, she found herself closest with the medical officer, which she guessed is why the woman was so affected by the overall matter. She spent time with her when she could but often times she assured her that she was fine and/or busy with something else and would have to pick her up another time. As of recently… she just wanted to be alone.

The ban from the expeditions lowered her chances of seeing him again and seeing as Captain Unohana had already set a time where she would no longer be able to leave the Society… she was sitting on thin time. Her cut off mark was supposed to be around thirty-five weeks, which only gave her fifteen to spare; three of which she'll be losing due to the woman's insistence.

Twelve weeks to try and catch him again… it almost felt impossible to do.

He didn't visit the human world all that often, if anything his act was just random by choice… but he said that he had been almost looking for her, seeing when she would be back again.

… She didn't want to keep him waiting.

Things seemed to move in her favor though.

Captain Mayuri informed her that she would be attending the next expedition regardless… and she would be a fool to think that he did so without having a purpose. Even though she knew it was not her place to question it, she sidestepped the matter and asked if Captain Unohana had acknowledged the request. In doing so, she only earned herself a slight sneer as the Captain merely muttered something beneath his breath that the Fourth Captain held no control in his Division- and never would for that matter. But her slight step out of her boundaries did succeed in revealing what his plans were…

He had plans to use her as bait in a new trap of his.

If the Espada had approached her during her last exposure in the human world… then he would more than likely do it again. No doubts that the heartless man would be just as curious about the overall situation, there was even some minor expression that he might try to take her and the offspring for himself… to harness whatever powers the child might possess. And while that was not going to happen, if they could get him close enough to her for an elongated period of time, then they could capture him and bring him back for study.

It was odd how calmly the Captain used the term 'study.'

Because she knew it would be nothing like that. If anything, it would be a cover phrase to use if anyone questioned his would-be methods.

Here she wanted to see him again… and the only way to would be as bait.

She didn't have a choice in the matter though; she would soon depart with the rest of the team and act as though there was absolutely nothing wrong with it. The plan was for her to stay out in the open and wait for him to show up again. As soon as he did, she was supposed to engage him long enough for the back up team to show up and attempt to capture him. She didn't know what their full tactic was going to be but she heard them discussing different methods of stunning and questioning what types of sedatives might work.

He would be smarter than that though, right?

He wouldn't fall for a trap so easily.

For once she hated every aspect of the human world, from the soft breeze to the calm sunlight overhead. Even if the crowds were a little sparse today, giving her plenty of opportunities to isolate herself. She thought about keeping close to the crowds regardless, just to deter the situation a little bit… but she knew better than to get on the wrong side of Captain Mayuri's anger- especially given a situation that was as sensitive as this one was. He would hate to miss out on the opportunity of securing a live Espada, a live specimen for him to cut apart and study. If something happened and the mission was a failure… everyone would feel his anger over it.

Still… part of her wanted to toss the whole situation out of the way. She didn't want him to be ruined by her own Division.

The slight pressure prodding her from the inside seemed to agree with her train of thought. At least she wasn't the only one thinking the same thing.

"You're here again. I've waited long enough."

The familiar voice coming from behind her seemed to stir up a chilling vibration down her spine.


	6. Chapter 6

For a moment, she didn't want to turn around and acknowledge his presence… but she wouldn't go so far as to ignore him either. She just had to tell herself that he would either catch on early on, and if he didn't… then she would risk telling him herself.

"Yes well, one of the supervising Captains didn't quite like how our last encounter went and insisted that I stay out of the line of action for awhile; my Captain put me back on active duty this morning." She replied as she slowly turned back towards him; taking note of the small amount of distance he kept between them. "It's not like I wanted to keep away."

There almost seemed to be a light hint of surprise across his subtle features, but just as quickly as it appeared it was pushed aside. Fingers moved to push up on his glasses for a moment as though he was contemplating her words carefully. "… Is that so?"

"Why do you seem so surprised by that?"

"I'm not sure, I guess I had assumed this 'Captain' of yours would have tried to turn you into another direction." He remarked. "But I supposed I should know you better than that."

"I would hope so." She started, although she knew well of where his line of thinking was coming from. Had the situation not affected her the way this one did, she would've followed her Captain's orders and thoughts blindly. But it was nothing like that, was it? If anything, she had closed herself in to her own thoughts, preferring to create an illusion of obedience. "How long have you been waiting?"

"For just today or since the last time we met?"

She didn't consider that kind of time frame.

"I suppose I already know the answer then." The words left in soft, subtle syllables.

"Yes well, as delightful as this conversation has been, I think there's a more important matter for the two of us to discuss."

So he finally figured out what he wanted to know, what he wanted to ask; he probably memorized all the notes and genetic coding he had on the matter, giving him a wider range of questioning. She hoped she could answer all of them, but she had a feeling that his curiosity on this situation would put his level of thinking over her own. After all, she's had answers for quite some time now, while he's had a few weeks to generate hundreds of unanswered questions.

"I'll answer what I can." She replied, giving him a light nod to continue.

He took a pause of his own, as though to take a moment and see how his thoughts would run, carefully picking out an order to say them in. "How well are you doing?"

"I'm fine most days, only when she chooses to not be so violently active." She started. "It's gotten a lot easier since the first few months, where the chemical imbalances between the two of us did cause for some problems."

"Like what?"

"There was notable bleeding, which is normal in some cases, but our medical Division remarked that it was an above average flow." She explained, doing her best to avoid explaining too much of that particular side affect. "A more prominent effect was abnormal stints of exhaustion, which again is usually a normal stage, but this too was a bit more extreme. There were periods ranging from a few days of sleep to a continuous week of it; it was more like a hibernation stage, where my body was shutting itself down to try and slow the progress into a careful pace, giving it time to adjust where it needed to properly."

"That seems reasonable." He nodded, moving to cross his arms over his chest. "In terms of our different biological and energy structures, it would cause for some errors to be made and found. Your body couldn't figure out what to do with the growing cells that had a mix of foreign and familiar genes in them, so it did the only thing it could. It shut down to gain a better understanding and figure out a way to adapt to the cells; it couldn't risk attacking them because the cells were a part of it as well."

"Precisely."

"I won't mind my steps with the next question, seeing as I've had some experience with this Division of yours, but what have the tests concluded? Anything abnormal?"

"A few chemical levels here or there are rather high but the source for such can't be pinpointed directly. It's too delicate of a situation to try and figure out the source from anything more than a blood test. The only answer that's been consistent this entire time though is that she's active; her levels are normal given the situation, what vitals are available show healthy functionality and such. She shows a higher strain of Hollow genetics though, matching energy as well."

"Combined with the lack of a stated heartbeat, I think we all know what the ending result will be."

It was all too obvious at this point.

Which is what made it so frightening.

She guessed there was some kind of shift in her expression as the short thoughts crossed her mind; something that hinted to him that the turn of the conversation had put her off. He took a light step forward to cut the space between them, minding to keep any actual physical contact to a minimum.

"I would only assume that Captain of yours is rather... elated over this whole situation. When you overlook that there's been no reported incidents like this one, you realize just how delicate this one-of-a-kind event is. I'll admit myself, in a sense, I would share that same kind of feeling- this isn't just any other run of the mill offspring. The only difference is our standing; this is a much different situation on my side compared to his own. It could break any kind of scientific measure out there… that doesn't change my position as the paternal half of this situation."

For a moment, he had her worried with how he was talking, but he somehow managed to save himself at the end of it. She didn't know why it made her feel a bit more at ease now, but it did… and she figured she should enjoy the feeling while it lasted. "Then perhaps it would be best if I didn't reveal what my Captain's plans were."

The remark, as small as it was, seemed to affect him harder than she had intended.

The mixed look of surprise and disgust that slightly contorted his expression was almost more than she had predicted, if anything it might've stirred a minor sense of regret in the pit of her stomach. Still… it was probably best if it remained as such, if it remained without proper explanation.

"With our medical Captain also in standing with this ordeal, she has ensured-"

"However that statement finishes out, it's hardly going to provide much comfort." He interrupted. "A medical personnel will operate just long enough to ensure that both mother and child are taken care of to a degree. Once a certain point is crossed all responsibility will be tossed aside. I have no doubts that most of your Society is more so disgusted by this ordeal, so they wouldn't bother with knowing or caring what happens at the end of it. That's just how the game plays…"

It was difficult to listen to him and not agree with the idea he was going with.

He had a strong point, as opinionated as it was… he knew how to play it right and serve it correctly.

Her thoughts on the matter broke slightly at the brief glimpse of movement further down the street behind him; she didn't catch much of the figure but she knew well of whom it belonged to… Which only made her question just how much longer she was going to lead him on. How much danger was she going to put him in?

He had to know about this right?

"Don't bother yourself with what they're doing."

There was his acknowledgement of the situation right there. At least it was a small sigh of relief that there was no possible way of catching him off-guard.

"How long have you known?"

A frown seemed to toy on the edge of his lips as though to say there could've been a better way to phrase that question… but he would let her go this one time about it. "I figured they would plan something like this after the conclusion of our last meeting. If they know they can call me out and isolate me from the rest of the pack, then they'll do so. You were the most suitable bait because I wouldn't be able to deny you and since you came with the Division, they had free reigns over your control. It's nothing new, nothing that hasn't been done before… it's like trying to catch a wild animal. You surround it, target it, make it feel vulnerable by exposing its weakness and wait for the correct time to strike, in which case you'd stun it and wait for it to fall on its own accordance. And then you'd find a nice big cage to put it in."

"I wasn't going to-"

Fingers moved to catch the curve of her chin as he pulled her towards him, partly maiming her words before she could finish them.

"I know."

At least there was an understanding to it then.

"If there was something I could do about this, I wouldn't hesitate to do so-"

"I know." It was her turn to interrupt him this time. "Looking at the list of factors though… I think we can both believe that it's for the best if this case stayed within my realm of control, as little as it may be."

He didn't respond immediately and instead released her chin from his grasp, moving his fingers through her long bangs now; brushing them away from her face. For the given moment, the silence seemed suiting. This conversation wasn't exactly as complicated as she had imagined it but… it was better than nothing and certainly better than arguing. Maybe they were getting too comfortable with one another though, their personal spaces were practically merging but neither of them was offering complaints.

She was afraid to admit that she liked it though.

She knew she did, the warmth of his body so close to her own, the calming ease of his breath mixing with hers… it reminded her of how this whole ordeal came to be in the first place.

But, in the end, it was just one complication after another.

And again, the movement continued on in the corners of her eyes. She wondered if those close by questioned this kind of movement, this kind of strange attention. They would understand that she wasn't fighting back but… would they understand why he wasn't exactly being the aggressor either.

Of course not.

Then again, these officers probably weren't even questioning the ordeal; they had been given their orders and they weren't going to stray from them. It was like they all shared just one brain function, one brain wave. They were too afraid to follow their own thoughts or carry on with their own ideas. She knew what that was like, and even now, she wasn't sure how she had managed to break from that kind of thinking.

But then the soft rupture of a kick inside of her gave a brief hint to that answer.

"She's a little active now, isn't she?"

His remark breaking the silence was one thing, but his obvious note on the movement was another.

"You can sense her?" she questioned lightly.

"Briefly, it comes in short waves." He started.

"Is it because of her Hollow nature?"

"More than likely, yes."

Interesting, but she supposed she shouldn't have really been surprised by it; she always assumed his heightened abilities would allow for him to pick up on the slightest movement within his own energy range. And with the close distance between them, it would be difficult to overlook that kind of matter. "I-"

The slip of movement gaining her attention ended her remark before it could start and she watched as a flash of black appeared just a foot or so behind him. The actually operation couldn't be starting already… they were given instructions to take their time, this was rushing it. Were they assuming that just because he seemed preoccupied that he wouldn't notice them? She was set to be a distraction but even then, she wasn't that good of one.

She wasn't given enough information for how this ordeal was supposed to work, she was given her commands and that was it. She didn't… she didn't know what this officer was supposed to do or what he was trying to accomplish.

But it didn't work.

It was a single, fluid movement; it was flawless, it was planned and it was perfect.

Fingers left the distraction of her darkened bangs as his upper body barely twisted just enough to rotate his shoulder back; giving him just enough freedom of movement to lock his hand around the officer's face. Those same fingers that had been so gentle against her skin were practically buried into the flesh that rivaled his own. His eyes never left her own, never once looking back to see whom he had captured in his grasp. Because he didn't care…

The officer never had a chance to react.

The energy that erupted from his palm was almost blinding and even if it would've been considered weak given its faint reading, it was enough.

She watched the rush of blood, muscle strands and bone fragments get blasted away with the energy; strings of nerves, eyeballs and a collection of teeth blown out like they were pieces of confetti hidden inside of a prize. The flesh his fingers had once been dug into was gone, everything underneath it… non-existent now.

It was an empty shell that collapsed to the concrete below, anything that once existed above the neck was left in a corroded, cauterized mess. Watching as the body fell in a crumpled heap, she found that she couldn't remember what the officer looked like anymore.

And just as easily as he had struck in the first place, he moved back as though the attack hadn't just occurred seconds before.

"They're getting a little impatient. I hope he wasn't an acquaintance of yours." He remarked, his tone never once shifting to contribute to the strike.

"I'm not sure why he decided to rush you." She started, fingers curling in against her palms for a moment. "This is hardly the time frame they had discussed…"

"Pathetic little ants, aren't they?" he replied, his tone changing to sound as though he was almost amused by the situation now. Fingers moved back to toy with the longer lock of hair that framed her jaw before they followed down the soft trembling curve of her neck, eventually wrapping themselves around it.

There was no sense of pressure from his hold and she knew right then that he was doing it for show. His mind working three steps ahead of everyone else's- hers included. She let herself play along with him on stage.

And when he leaned down towards her, lips barely brushing against one ear, she knew he had his own plan working out.

"They keep getting closer."

"You're making them nervous."

"… Let's find some place a little more… private."

The words left him like there was absolutely nothing wrong with the idea and were flawless enough to convince her that he was right. There was nothing wrong with this.

Fingers moved to make contact with him for the first time during this encounter or really ever at all it felt like and she found that she missed that kind of touch; the soft material of his uniform giving in beneath her fingertips, almost mocking the texture of his skin that resided beneath. She felt his free hand move to press against her lower back before the world around them blurred and seemingly went black. Her eyes failed to keep up with the sudden motion and it momentarily confused her on where exactly they had gone or what exactly was happening. But the tight hold he kept to her body reassured her otherwise, even if the hold lasted for only a few seconds at most before it was over.

He slowly removed himself from her and stepped back for a moment to look over the new surroundings; a brief frown catching the corners of his lips for a moment.

"Well this wasn't exactly what I was aiming for, but it's not that far off."

She didn't even realize her eyes were closed until she had to force them open. The open street she had been at before was gone and replaced with a staggered horizon and blue sky; it didn't take her all that long to figure out that they weren't on the ground street anymore.

"A rooftop?" she questioned as she looked over the area once more.

"Like I said, not exactly what I was trying for… but I won't complain." he replied. "This will give us some more time to talk while those Division members of yours run panicked in the streets."

Yes well… she supposed this wouldn't be the first place they would look. In fact, if they were careful with how their energy was spent… her Division members wouldn't even think to look up this far. Shaking her head briefly, she stepped back slightly before a sudden overwhelming loss of balance and small hint of nausea struck her. Her left leg shuddered briefly and nearly buckled underneath her at the sudden feeling, twisting inward slightly in the struggle to keep in place.

His hands were against her once more, catching her broken balance before it completely collapsed beneath her. She took the moment to catch her breath and steady her weak legs, hoping that the sudden movement had just caught her off-guard for a few seconds. But the faint kicking inside of her seemed to note that she wasn't the only one affected by the motion.

"Wow, she is really pissed off."

The words were almost comical when they left him and she supposed that was about as close to concern as he would get for now.

"You made her upset." she replied.

"She's just temperamental." he started, giving a brief pause before he spoke. "Okay, she may get that from me though."

It was strange how the conversation was almost casual at this point as she slowly recovered from the brief stint and moved to support herself once more. Still, the child inside of her continued to bounce around, upset at the sudden movement, maybe even the influx of energy. She couldn't recall the last time she had been this active. She kept one hand against the favored side, feeling the press of hands and feet against her in reaction.

She guessed there was a moment of hesitation before his hand slowly moved to overtake her own. She could only assume his own sense of curiosity had taken over and maybe even that small brush of parental responsibility stepped in.

Slowly, the kicking started to calm down before it ceased overall.

"What do we do now?" she whispered.

"Does it matter?"

His personality seemed to shift with that one question as he chose to ignore answering her… and chose an answer that didn't seem to speak to anyone. She studied his unmoving features, overlooking everything there was to see with him- down to every eyelash that skirted the shape of his eye, brushing slightly against the thin lens of his glasses.

"I suppose not."


	7. Chapter 7

He stayed with her for a good hour afterwards but she couldn't really say that they talked much… and if they did, she couldn't really recall what had been said. However, time was never on their side, at least not without stirring suspicion, and he soon had to depart; leaving her on the rooftop- at her request however. It gave her a reason for not attempting to alert the rest of her Division members about the sudden action, for not attempting to give out her position. It would also give her a reason for why she didn't try to regroup with them either… seeing as she wasn't entirely sure how to get down just yet. There was a fire escape nearby but she wasn't going to risk trying to go down it, not with the baby and certainly not in this dress. The down moment gave her a chance to think some things over.

She kept her legs lightly tucked underneath her as she preferred a gracious seat on the rooftop, one hand lightly smoothing out the wrinkles in the dress around her. He seemed… accepting enough with the situation as it was; towards the later half of the situation, she had to admit he seemed more protective about it. Part of her wondered if that reaction was in part due to an animalistic paternal instinct of some sort; his kind exhibited signs of being animal-like and she had first hand experience about that kind of observation. Still… it was a topic that neither of them wished to get into, a topic that they already knew was useless to try and discuss.

He kissed her before he left.

That was the first time they had share an intimate moment of contact in quite some time… it brought her back to the moment that had gotten them in this situation in the first place. And even now, even with all the conflict from the Society and the fighting between her Captain and Captain Unohana, she couldn't say she regretted what happened; she certainly didn't regret the little being that was nestled safely within her. It only made her more curious for how the child would look when it was born- although she supposed that was a natural curiosity for anyone expecting. Perhaps just a little more given this unique case.

The soft brush of his lips over her own still managed to send shudders down her spine.

And… the kicking came back.

She moved her hand over the moving section and felt the force of every motion bounce against the curve of her palm.

"You miss him already?" she questioned lightly, feeling the kicks cease for a moment as though in answer before they started back up. "… I do too."

It took the rest of her team almost an hour themselves before they managed to track her down. And even then, they seemed more upset that they had lost track of him and failed the overall mission- most of them seemed hesitant to report back to Captain Mayuri. She supposed she should have as well but… she didn't; she hadn't really considered what the man might do with this kind of failure. Then again, they suffered a causality so that was a reasonable excuse for the mission to have gone awry. At least the other Divisions would believe so… her Captain might still insist on punishment.

In all honesty, she was glad it failed. Not that she was glad that it had to come at a price for the man killed but… it meant he didn't have to cross her Division; he wouldn't have to deal with her Captain in the worst situation possible.

The team had to regroup to where she was, forcing them to move their original departure zone from the street before they could leave. She hadn't really considered what she was going to say… she figured she would let the others speak and eventually let the matter drop; no one had spoken to her about it, so she didn't really think much else. Isane and Captain Unohana might be a bit more concerned, but she had an easier time dealing with them and could fabricate something together. Or perhaps she could say that they did speak and exchanged a few words but nothing else. Even now, she still wasn't sure what they had exactly discussed…

Their Captain was beyond angry at their return empty-handed, easily overshadowing their stumbling explanations about what went wrong; he didn't even seem to question why they were short one member, not the least bit caring about the man's disappearance. What had started out as crisp, sharpened words detaining them as 'failures' and 'rejects' eventually turned into mumbling phrases and slowed movements. She questioned the change in motion and attitude before she realized that it wasn't her Captain's reaction that was changing, but rather her own perception. She had failed to note the shifting change of energy as they stepped back into Soul Society, feeling the crushing weight of power in the air… it made her already fragile system unbalanced and threatened to collapse it beneath her weight.

What started out as white spots decorating the corners of her eyes turned into utter darkness conquering her vision.

And much like their conversation before… she couldn't really recall all that much when she came back around.

A low groan managed to free itself from her lips as her mind slowly began to piece itself back into consciousness. Fingers tugged lightly against the thin sheets beneath her before she moved one hand to brush against her face, feeling the sheer heaviness in her limbs as she tried to reposition them. Her hand collapsed partly against her chest before fingers slowly managed to crawl their way up her neck and rest against a sore portion of her jaw. Eyes seemed even more difficult to force open before she managed to convince her right one to do so at least.

Her body felt like it refused to move, let alone even cooperate with her wanted actions, forcing her to rest for awhile longer. When she managed to recover just enough to regain movement to her upper body once more, she immediately moved to rest her hands against her stomach; feeling the sensitive flesh almost sore beneath her fingertips. The stillness underneath was almost worth panicking over until she felt movement stroke against one of her hands for only a brief second. She was probably asleep at this time… thankfully.

Another light groan escaped her as she moved to better position herself in the medical bed, preferring to keep her body somewhat angled as she pressed her back against the wall behind her. Well… now was the question as to what exactly happened. She had to have passed out not all that long after returning, although it left the question of how long had she been out? She couldn't remember what time of day it was when they returned, so trying to base a timing off the light coming through the nearby window was futile. If she were to try and evaluate the timing difference though… she'd guess somewhere between four to fourteen hours. That seemed to be a standard spacing of time.

The door opposite of her clicked briefly before it was slid from its frame, revealing the ever-familiar, silver-haired Lieutenant. It didn't take the woman all that long to notice her new found sense of consciousness though.

"Oh thank the Gods, you're awake." Isane sighed in relief as she made her way over to her and quickly took a seat on the open bedside. One hand moved to press against her forehead, which she pulled away from. "Are you alright? How are you feeling?"

"Fine." she answered, hands pressing more firmly against her stomach as she felt a slight increase in the kicking. "How long have I been here?"

"Half a day."

Good… not that bad of a time period then.

Hopefully she didn't mess out on much.

"Do you remember what happened?" Isane questioned, moving to rest her hands back into her lap. "Captain Mayuri said you passed out during the mission debriefing; a few of the other members present said that you just seemingly collapsed out of nowhere."

She nodded lightly before fingers moved to brush aside a few loose locks of hair; her braid felt messy and laid in a tangled mess beside her, most of the twisted locks were loose and stuck freely from their places. She traced her fingers down the twisted mess before she moved to pull the red bead at the end of it free. "I can't remember what happened… I just remember returning from the mission and then waking up here."

"Do you think it's because… you ran into him again?"

Her fingers paused for a moment before she continued to dismantle her braid until it was reduced to an unorganized sheet of black over her left shoulder.

"A few of your Division members filled us in on what happened. I can't believe they would be that reckless with handling a mission like that… or that Captain Mayuri would even think to put you up to something like that."

She let the Lieutenant speak however way she wished, knowing that she would need the moment to rant since Captain Unohana forbid the ill-speaking of other Captains in her presence. At any other time, she would've asked the woman to keep her opinions to herself, but now… she didn't think otherwise of it. She didn't even wish to complain about it.

"I don't believe his influence would have anything to do with my sudden collapse." she started, running her fingers absent-mindedly through her hair. "Perhaps it was the travel between the different worlds, or the given activity from the morning…" the last word died partly on her lips as she stopped herself in mid thought. She glanced down at the curve of her stomach once more and let her thoughts weed themselves out as she carefully picked at one memory of the mission.

The fourth Lieutenant sat there for a moment as though awaiting for a continuation of her sentence, waiting patiently for her words; her patience was seemingly quick to run out, or perhaps her curiosity had gotten the upper hand instead. "And?"

Fingers lightly twisted the full bundle of locks over her shoulder, preferring to keep them out of her way until she could brush the knots out. "She gave a positive reaction to his presence at a close distance, which was discussed that such reaction was in part to their shared genetics; just as well, she reacted to him because he's been the only Hollow she's had contact with. Throughout this entire ordeal, she's been creating havoc considering she can only relate to half of my blood, while the other half was seen as an almost parasitic force- one that my body tried to fight. Once that mess was adapted to and cleared, she's been decently calm with me because she relates to me as her maternal dependent. However… as tests have proven, a majority of her genetics are Hollow-based, which means naturally, she relates more to him than myself despite that I am technically her host. She was abnormally calm around his presence… I believe in part it was because, not only did she relate to him, but she felt safer in his company; she was more active but her movements were softer and almost playful."

Isane narrowed her eyes briefly at the explanation, thinking she was understanding it at first but then questioning her own thoughts of it. While she was curious of how this manner was 'discussed', that was a question for another day. "So… how would that explain the whole collapsing thing? Was it like some kind of withdrawal or something?"

"In theory, when returning to Soul Society, she was overwhelmed with the sudden influence of our energy and reacted as such because she felt threatened. I'm not entirely sure if that might be a plausible reason for the collapse but… I can't see it being anything else." she continued. "I can't exactly prove it, but it's a workable theory for now."

"Well… it's something." Isane slowly replied. "I guess that just means you've got a pretty powerful baby in there."

"She's got a temper." she nodded.

"Have you… thought of a name for her?"

She looked to the woman at the question and caught the brief look of hesitation in her expression. "I can't say that I've even thought about it."

"… Well you better get started thinking, we're going to need a name to write down on her certificate."

Right… a name.

She had forgotten that such a being would need a name, however she wasn't entirely sure how one would be suiting for this situation. Not to mention… she wasn't entirely sure how to go about picking one either. Fingers continued to toy with her loose strands before they subconsciously moved to her jaw once more, feeling a sore spot sitting out to greet her; it was the same place as before.

"Oh right, uh… you took a bit of a tumble when you collapsed." Isane spoke, seemingly answering a question she had yet to ask or even think of. "You bruised your jaw slightly but it should clear up in a day or two. And don't worry, from what we can tell, there weren't any damages done to the baby; I guess you managed to fall on a good side and prevented her from taking much of the force. Captain Unohana still wants you to stay for a few days just in case."

She couldn't really argue with that… She'd prefer to be safe than sorry at this point, even as she felt the light amount of movement shift about inside of her. Still, she had a feeling that the close presence of the medical Division members would cause for another outbreak or at least cause some irritation for the child; at least in her Division, she could keep herself somewhat isolated in her own room, away from conflicting energy sources.

But, right now, she didn't want to press the matter. Her body may have been created to be indestructible, but their offspring wasn't; she was still vulnerable at this stage and right now, she wasn't going to let anything else happen to her.

She kept their encounter fresh in the back of her mind for the remaining days, ending that week with a confirmation from the medical Division that no harm had been done to either her or the baby. The few days in the medical wing were filled with silence and she enjoyed the temporary isolation, although a few visitors had dropped in to visit. Hinamori had stopped in a few times, the first time had been to check in on her, then it was just to talk and then she brought some books with her- one of them being filled with baby names. She preferred to just sit and listen to the woman read out a few names and offer commentary on them; the fifth Lieutenant had some colorful things to say about a few of the names and passed over some that seemed impossible to pronounce. A few of them were… nice, but weren't fitting in her opinion; she supposed she just wasn't putting thought into it right now… she still had some time to reconsider it.

When she was able to return to her own Division though, she took in the minor sense of comfort her room offered her. The causality they suffered during the mission was difficult to ignore and for once, an immediate repeat of the trial wasn't suggested; perhaps it was because of the death, or because of the way he had played and outsmarted her Division members… or maybe because of her own health. Even if her Captain didn't care for her own health, he wouldn't risk the health of the child; he wouldn't want to risk the potential breakthrough that was growing inside of her. And as much as she was starting to hate him for it, at least he wasn't making her fight him for the child's protection.

Fifteen weeks were all that were left for her and while to others it may have seemed like an irritatingly long time… for her, it felt like a blink of an eye. At first, it moved along smoothly, smoother than it had been before, but as time went on, things got worse. She could tolerate being around a few others with only some objective movements inside of her, but if a large group was present, she could only tolerate a few minutes at most. But as the window of time began to close, her tolerance was dropping at a rapid speed. It got to the point where she could no longer be in the same room as another Shinigami, let alone even in a close vicinity. Any time such close contact was attempted, her body immediately began to weaken and her sense of consciousness slipped almost out of reach; her form continued to be wrecked with so much pain, she would lose her footing every time. The pain would continue on even after the others left, leaving her to be a wrecked mess for hours some times. The first few times it had occurred, Isane immediately panicked and assumed that she was losing the baby… but tests always came back showing absolutely nothing wrong; the Division Four environment was hell for her though and she eventually refused to go back after the second visit.

Those last few weeks were spent in solitude- at her request. At that point, she felt strongly that the Shinigami energy was upsetting the child and making her react as such- unintentionally taking it out on her host. While she didn't think the child was at danger of hurting herself… she didn't think that overexerting her own energy as such was a good idea either. The isolation would do the both of them some good. It was hard to believe just how much the child could grow in the passing weeks, how something so small could hinder her own movements as greatly as she did. Simple chores that had been difficult to do at the start were now almost impossible.

Two weeks before that final date, she had felt off that entire morning and then, just before noon, she knew what was going on. Isane had stopped in every morning for the past few weeks just in case, trying to keep an update on her health without irritating the child- which, was difficult to do but somewhat successful in the end. She had convinced the woman to stay an hour or more longer that day, but the Lieutenant had to step back to her Division for a moment by the time she felt her water break. The pain wasn't the least bit comparable to the agony she had to endure with the cross contacts so… at first it wasn't noticeable; but then the contractions began to close in on another and she immediately picked up on the pattern.

She was impressed with how calm the Fourth Lieutenant remained during the situation, even when she insisted that she didn't need assistance in moving to the medical Division; she might've been in labor but she was still fully capable of movement. Isane panicked just a bit then but still managed to keep herself mostly under control until they reached the Division house. Captain Unohana was a bit upset with not being noted ahead of time but upon being reminded that it was two weeks early, she went a bit easy on them.

It had all progressed quite quickly within that first hour and Captain Unohana told her that she might've missed her timing for an epidural, but she was fairly certain she didn't need it; nothing could compare to what she had dealt with previously anyways.

It was an… odd feeling.

Here she had carried this being with her for months on end, suffering at some points and learning during others but… soon enough, this little being would be more than just an image on a screen; more than just kicking in the middle of the night. Soon enough, she would be something that could be held, something that could be cradled and cared for.

But would she really know what she was doing? Would anyone know what to do? This little being may just be like any other child but… she was a hybrid. Any little thing could tip her off. Her reaction to the Shinigami energy alone was powerful enough when inside of her, so it was in question what she was capable of when outside. Now, she had an advantage when they were sharing one body since her own form was in a fragile enough state as it was, but anything was in question.

She was just getting ahead of herself with it, but it was difficult not to.

_"A medical personnel will operate just long enough to ensure that both mother and child are taken care of to a degree. Once a certain point is crossed all responsibility will be tossed aside. I have no doubts that most of your Society is more so disgusted by this ordeal, so they wouldn't bother with knowing or caring what happens at the end of it. That's just how the game plays…"_

His words still echoed in the back of her head and she knew they were right to a point… there was only so much the Fourth Division could do; she wasn't within their jurisdiction.

But… she didn't care for that; she didn't need them. She had been just fine without them and… she wasn't going to let anything happen to this child. This offspring, as rare and groundbreaking as she was, was still hers; she was theirs and, for an odd reason, she didn't want to lose this part of him. What they had, or really if that was anything to say, was difficult to explain and not something she could speak of, but it was something that was always preoccupying her thoughts.

Despite their limited knowledge of one another, she had a feeling that while he would probably avoid the overall labor ordeal, he'd more than likely want to be one of the first to hold the child; she could be wrong in that assumption but… perhaps it was still possible.

The sound of a shrill-like cry easily penetrated the once silent room around them, breaking the force of concentration she had immersed herself in. She was partly exhausted, most of her physical energy had been drained in the weeks leading up to this and the rest had easily been spent with the labor. But now that it was over… there was almost a new awakening of energy. Perhaps it was just mere curiosity to see what this child she had been nurturing for months looked like.

"Oh goodness, someone is not happy." Captain Unohana chuckled as she lightly wrapped a towel around the screaming infant, cradling her in the curve of her arm before she moved to her bedside. Hands gently moved to pull the infant away from her arm and carefully offered the child to her instead. "I don't think she likes us still."

For a moment… she hesitated.

Slowly, hands reached out to take the infant and gently pulled her in to her chest, cradling her briefly against the flat of her sternum. Almost immediately, the crying quieted down and the child almost seemed to lean in against her. She didn't realize her fingers were shaking until they moved to brush a corner of the towel away, gently skimming the flat of her fingertips against the child's temple.

"She's beautiful." the Captain continued.

"Did you ever think of that name?" Isane questioned, standing somewhat idly aside.

She continued to observe the infant in her hold, watching and studying how she fell to the soft movements from her chest; slowly, the child mimicked its breathing patterns after her own, allowing for both of their chests to move in sync.

It was difficult to not notice the pink strands that stuck to the infant's forehead, a notable trait she carried from her father's genes. Of all the traits to take from him… she took the best feature he had.

"Akira."


	8. Chapter 8

Pink hair from him; green eyes from her.

It was a strange combination but… still compatible in a sense.

However, once her hair grew out and her features settled in, it would be easy to see where her paternal genes came from; it would be easy to see who else she belonged to. If they had images of these Arrancars, it would be a given on who had commenced this entire ordeal. But… they didn't and for that, she was glad- not that she thought anyone would have asked her to pick out the attacker in an image line up. She wasn't sure if she would have lied with that, although she supposed all they would have to do is wait for the child to be born and match features.

For now though… the child was just like any other.

Division Four refused to allow anyone to visit her the first two days, giving her plenty of time to bond with her daughter- although she was certain they already had a bond in the first place. Captain Unohana refused to allow anyone from her own Division to step inside of her room, remarking that the last thing she needed was to be dealing with them. She supposed it was just another way of putting their health before the research, which was noble enough. The more she thought about it, the more she found her own objections to the possible research… after settling her sights on the infant in her arms, she couldn't bring herself to allow them to touch her.

Her Captain wasn't easy to sway though.

He argued that the rarity of the child was the only reason to even let the both of them live; it was the only way she served any purpose to him. After all, he could get rid of her and simply clone another version, there was nothing stopping him from doing so in the first place.

And for once… she argued back.

She had a feeling the only reason he even dared to listen to her was due to the rest of the Society. At this point, every Division, every member had heard about the ordeal, some had even gossiped about it the entire time… he wasn't stupid enough to risk smearing what little credibility people gave him. He was a genius in his own right, he could figure and work out anything that crossed his path, but just the same, he was a cruel, unforgiving individual and people overlooked his smarts with his overall composure. He carried a terrible enough reputation for his treatment of his Division… but he wasn't going to push it. He had threatened physical harm against her and even threatened to kill her a few times in a public setting, but that was just routine for him; it was routine for everyone who overheard the words. But he wasn't stupid, he wouldn't continue that trait with her child now involved.

For now… he would let her have it her way.

She still kept mental notes and journals about the child's progress; filling out page after page each hour of just pure observation. For now, nothing seemed all that out of place, at least nothing that made itself blatantly noticeable.

Pink hair and green eyes.

The abnormality on her right hand had been the starting point of what she presumed would be a hollow piece; her ring and middle finger linked by a bone-like piece that hooked close by her knuckles. She had a feeling when she first brought it up to him, he already knew about it but chose to not lease the information to her. Maybe he thought it would be best if she discovered it herself... It wasn't the only thing to discover though.

There was a small hole just underneath the child's right collarbone, a black abyss that reflected onto her back as well.

Upon that second discovery… she was willing to say that the offspring was almost more Hollow than anything else; it was a dominate gene but… still only fifty percent of her genetic material. How the child would reflect a Shinigami half, she wasn't sure, but it would have to come at a much later time. Until then, it was just day by day.

It was strange to hold something so fragile in arms that were used to breaking down structures and hands that were hardened down by fighting. She was almost certain she was going to bruise the child somehow and almost couldn't understand how the girl could fall asleep so easily in the curve of her arm. She rarely left the child by herself, let alone even left the room she was in, but in the instances where she did, she was more than relieved to hold her again. The child seemed to express the same kind of reaction and was always reaching out for her when she was nearby. While she had never been used to or experienced with physical contact that didn't involve some sort of harm… she found herself becoming more and more attached to the feeling. There was nothing more relaxing than holding the infant against her chest day in and day out.

While she was still uncomfortable with visitors, she had decided to test it a few times.

Of course, Akira didn't seem to like the contact at first; she cried whenever someone else held her and would continue to until she was returned to her arms. But by the third time, she had calmed down enough to be held by someone else for a solid amount of time.

"She's got your eyes, you know." Hinamori chuckled as she lightly held the infant in front of her.

It was odd that throughout the entire ordeal, the fifth Lieutenant had never once seemed to share the same expression that the others did. Perhaps she only played the part in front of her, but it did give her some peace of mind; she rarely visited with the other Lieutenants anymore, the only time she did see any of them was if they wished to visit her first. Isane had dropped by a few times but they had only been for medical purposes it seemed… other than her, it was Hinamori; Nanao had visited once before to drop off a blanket she had sewn together herself.

"I think she's starting to like me too." the woman continued before she brought the child closer to her, blowing a small raspberry against her forehead.

As a stark contrast to her previous reactions, the child giggled lightly at the motion and squirmed slightly in the Lieutenant's arms.

She found herself almost smiling at the sight, listening to the shared laughter from the two. It was one of the more insightful observations and revealed the adaptive nature the child was taking on; adjusting carefully to the energy around her. She had finally found a comfort level with those around her, able to find a way to tolerant the Shinigami energy- balancing it with her conflicting mix.

"She's going to be beautiful." Hinamori remarked, cradling the infant against her now. "If she takes after you though, you're going to have to beat off the boys when she gets older. You could probably handle them though."

"I think she'll be able to handle them herself." Nemu started.

"That's true… plus I think she'd be a bit intimidating with who her mother is."

Or who her father was for that matter.

As weeks began to bleed into months, she continued to follow through with her studies and noted a rather noticeable trait that was growing every day. Despite her young age, Akira was constantly working on a mental level several months ahead of herself; she supposed it shouldn't have been surprising given the shared intelligence from herself and from him. Perhaps she just thought that it would take longer before such a trait became apparent.

But she was speaking sooner and learning to move at an accelerated rate, figuring out the different motions of her body in order to achieve what she wanted. It felt like one day she was cradling her in the window sill of her room and the next she was having to chase her down the hallway in order to get her back. But again, Akira was smart and was constantly finding ways to evade her. Once one method was exhausted, she figured out a different one to use just to change the pace of things.

Akira was temperamental and stubborn at times.

… Just like her father.

She took the days as they came to her, often times overlooking just how much time was passing or how much time had passed in the first place. It felt like just one day she had still been carrying the child and the next… she was passing her third birthday and still running around, testing out the people closest to her. Her pink strands had grown in and lightly decorated down to her shoulder-blades until she insisted on wearing them back into a braid like hers; she even wanted a matching red bead to tie it off at the end. She had chuckled lightly at the request and carefully braided the long strands until they mimicked the design of her own black locks. Akira insisted on keeping a small portion of her strands loose though and kept them to the right side of face, allowing for them to curve down to her jaw.

She didn't know how but… the girl had somehow managed to mimic his hairstyle just the same by adding those few loose bangs. But, she didn't say anything about it and simply admired the style her daughter had picked out for herself.

"What did my dad look like?"

Fingers had been lightly playing with those loose bangs as Akira rested promptly against her right side, snuggling in close against her while she was resting in bed; her body partly exhausted from the errands she had to run all morning and afternoon. She knew the questions were going to surface eventually, she should've prepared herself more properly for them.

"He has pink hair just like yours." she spoke. "Amber eyes though and he wore glasses."

"Where is he now?"

She brushed aside her bangs and lightly held them away from her face. "He lives in a different world, a different dimension from us."

"… Then how did you meet him?"

She was persistent.

"We crossed paths in the human world." she answered once more.

"Why can't he be here?"

"Because he's a Hollow and… the others don't accept him."

The child remained silent for the next following moments, choosing to remain tightly pressed against her body as fingers briefly tangled in the loose folds of her uniform. "Do you think I'll get the chance to meet him?"

She found herself pausing briefly at the question before she glanced down to the child, noticing the way she was falling asleep against her. Would there ever really be a moment where they might cross paths? Tensions had been rising ever since the news of high-leveled Arrancars came into focus; ever since Captain Aizen lead a brief rebellion against the Society and left to join those same Arrancars… the city had been bracing itself for war. She was surprised they had made it this long without completely going headfirst into the matter. There had been a few scattered incidents of fights but they were over before they started and rarely gave them any results. Still… it was only a matter of time. But what mattered most to her was whether or not that war would occur in their world or the Arrancars'. She didn't know what she would do if such war broke out in this world… what if she was sent to fight and had to leave Akira behind? What if one of those Arrancars tried to hurt her?

Would he… would he try to protect her just the same?

"I don't know."

Akira remained silent once more and kept the silence lingering until she was almost certain that the child had finally fallen asleep. "I'd like to meet him."

She looked down at her again and noticed the light yawn that took her over before she moved to bury her head into the folds of her shirt. They both had a long day… she was surprised the girl had made it this long without sleeping, then again, she had a rather persistent endurance just the same. "… I'd like to see him again too."

…

..

.

The serenity was destined to break eventually though.

Peace was never something that lasted all that long around them.

She was in the middle of a Lieutenant's meeting, listening to the ongoing discussions between Lieutenant Chojiro and Lieutenant Iba. Hinamori had been speaking with her all morning, sometimes rambling and occasionally gossiping until Nanao insisted that she find something else to speak of. She didn't pay much attention to the words but humored herself with listening to how in-depth the woman could get with details and seeing how she could overreact to something so seemingly insignificant to her. While she didn't like leaving Akira alone for long periods of time, she was still required to attend these meetings… as unimportant as they felt sometimes.

Then came what sounded like a loud pop, like the sound barrier breaking for only a brief second.

And then the screaming followed.

Every person went still at the sound of the building across from them collapsing before they all seemed to move in unison to get outside and greet the destruction. Half of the Lieutenants immediately reached for their swords while the rest of them chose to remain as back up; Isane chose to remain at the scene just in case, nervously remarking that she could always depend on her kido to keep her safe.

The first group of figures to cross into their paths were Arrancars, but… they hardly possessed even half of the power they had previously recorded; they had to have been lower levels or perhaps working servants to those they had been tracking down. They were an unique looking group though, each one possessing a different hollow piece, a different uniform, unique markings to set them apart from each other. If given the time, it would've been nice to study each one individually, but… unfortunately, they didn't have time for that.

"Oh shit!"

She barely heard Iba's voice over the crashing of the next building a few yards from them; the entire building was blown away from its foundation and reduced to mere rubble and dust. However, it wasn't the collapsing building that caught her attention… it was something else. While everyone else had gotten caught up in the arriving Arrancars and the broken structures, she followed a different signal.

And just like that, her eyes moved across the ruined street around them and crossed over those amber orbs of his. The contact was brief and perhaps she had made her attention towards him too well known… because soon enough the rest of the Lieutenants followed her gaze.

To her, it had been three years since she last saw him; three years too long since their last encounter.

To everyone else… they must've thought it was a nightmare encounter.

It was impossible to ignore the matching clues after all. It was too easy to connect the dots.

They knew it had to have been an Arrancar, that the perpetrator had to have pink hair, which when considered was an extremely recessive gene… the chances of finding another figure with matching features was slim to nothing. Not to mention, Akira was a near spitting image of him with the exception of her eyes, that was the final note that couldn't have been overlooked. Perhaps it was also the way she was staring at him, she supposed she could've tried to look less suspicious about it.

Those physically closest to her immediately moved to step in front of her, shielding her from him. She felt Isane's hand come to rest on her shoulder, slightly pulling her back and keeping her somewhat circled by the other Lieutenants. She didn't wish to tell them that the motion was useless to do- hindering in all honesty.

She actually wanted to see him again.

But… she couldn't have let them know that, could she?

"Well well… look at what we have here."

His words were careful as he slowly walked through the broken remains of the building next door; his hand loosely resting on the hilt of his sword. He moved with almost careless steps as he stepped over a rather large remaining piece of debris before he paused just long enough to stand before them.

It was almost as if everyone had forgotten about the Arrancars from before, choosing to be more so focused on him instead. His energy reading was on par to what they had been recording, but she already knew that. He wasn't flaunting his power, he never really did unless he had to or wanted to in some rare cases but he managed to gain everyone's attention without even releasing a small burst of it.

"You're looking better these days." he continued.

"I think it would be best if you didn't speak with her." Chojiro spoke.

"You've got some galls to be here in the first place." Hinamori tagged on.

She heard him chuckle at the responses before she moved forward, lightly pushing her way through the small crowd before her. A few of the Lieutenants objected to the motion but didn't try to stop her, either surprised at the action or knowing better than to attempt to do so. Lightly pushing away the first Lieutenant who held at the front of the group, she took a few steps forward before she came to a stop. Eyes continued to hold onto his own and for a moment, she wasn't entirely sure what to say.

"You haven't changed." she remarked.

"I didn't have a reason to."

Of course not.

Her eyes continued to search out his own, finding that they held strongly to hers; never once wavering or shifting away to something else around him… She was his only point of focus right now.

"… She looks just like you."

Fingers moved to brush aside a few loose strands of pink hair, pushing his bangs off to the side for a moment.

"What a pity."


	9. Chapter 9

His remark may have seemed off mark with the others but… for her, it wasn't anything new; if anything, she wasn't surprised by his words- even if she didn't believe in it. He had been open to admitting that he had always admired her from a distance, remarking that he had almost immediately been drawn to her physical form. Although he seemed to be slightly put off when she replied that he wasn't the first. She rebutted his loose compliments but had to admit to herself that she had done just the same- after all… that's all their first encounters consisted of. Observing and studying one another from a distance, memorizing every physical detail they could see, learning more about their different skins before they even knew each others' names.

Of course he would seem disappointed that it wasn't her physical traits that were passed on.

"Perhaps it's not such a bad thing though." he continued, fingers moving to push up on his glasses now; settling them more comfortably on the bridge of his nose.

She heard the scattered shouts behind her as yet another building in the distance collapsed. She could hear the kicking of feet as several Lieutenants took off to confront the still emerging Arrancars; a few more voices called out commands as those remaining were forced to evacuate those still trapped inside of the wrecked buildings. It was a lot of commotion for such a short amount of time, but she found herself hardly paying attention to it. She was more focused on him and what he might possibly say or do.

But there were others destined to break them apart.

Buildings were being destroyed left and right but the next one that started to crack was off in the distance… and she could pinpoint its location from here; and she knew which one it was.

Her own Division was being attacked.

Akira.

It was one step back before she tore her way through the city, completely ignoring the ongoing battles around her and ducking around the collecting debris; almost forgetting about him all together. She completely forgot about everything else around her- nothing else mattered right now. What if someone was trying to hurt her? No, no, Akira was fast, she could outsmart anyone just long enough for her to get there; she could keep herself out of danger…

The damage to the labs were easy to see; there was smoke forcing its way up into the sky, waving and twirling in uncontrollable spirals. It was enough to tell her that more than one attacker was inside with possibly a few more standing post. She didn't care though; she knew this building more than anyone else, she would find a way in regardless. But stopping to find an opening would cause her to lose precious seconds and she wasn't going to stop long enough to find a door. Bracing one shoulder, she turned her body with the run and forced herself through the nearest wall; feeling the thick material crack underneath her strength before it collapsed down all around her, giving her the opening she needed.

She paused just long enough to try and pick up on some kind of energy source, hoping she could figure out Akira's somewhere in this mess. But the air was too thick, there was energy radiating all over the place… and Akira would know not to let her position be discovered like that. It made her task a bit more difficult, but she would know where to look first.

Stopping was dangerous though and she felt a second instinct push her onward. Her feet felt like they barely hit the ground as she weaved her way in and out through the corridors before she knew exactly where to go; when such realization tapped in, she drove herself through rooms and walls to cut time and corners.

Hitting through that last wall of resistance, she felt it; the slightest shift of energy in the air- the one profile that didn't fit anywhere in the mess of tension around them.

But… almost immediately, other energy profiles flared up.

They found her…

She held nothing back as she forced her way through the crumbling mazes as a few damaged walls around her started to collapse; they had been damaged far before she got here though, which meant the Arrancars were close by. There was absolutely nothing else going through her mind. She was going to find Akira and if there was anyone near her who would even attempt to harm her… she was going to kill them. It would be quick, she wasn't one to linger with putting out potential danger, and it would get her point across the fastest.

Focusing on a concentrated spot of energy, she braced herself once more and broke through yet another wall, however this time, she was bracing for more. Her left shoulder broke through the concrete wall while she kept her right arm pulled back, waiting for her body to steady and the dust to clear before she drove it forward. Almost immediately, she felt her fist sink in through soft flesh and continue on forward until she had dug her forearm through the Arrancar's unsuspecting abdomen. The heartless being barely had time to react before she pulled herself free and kicked him aside; watching as his body went down all too easily from the shock and surprised attack. Blood dripped off her fingertips and splashed to the floor below her as green eyes settled on the remaining four Arrancars.

"Momma…"

Her concentration was broken by the quiet voice and eyes dropped to greet identical ones that stared at her with mixed fear and relief. That small, pink braid of hers was messy and had started to unravel; a few scuff marks dirtied her right cheek and her little uniform was ripped just slightly on one arm.

One of the Arrancars kept his hand tightly around the back of her neck and she wanted to rip it clean off from the shoulder.

"Well I think this is getting a bit more interesting." the Arrancar remarked, lips slightly twisting into a brief grin. "Tell me then, is this your little bundle of joy?"

Her hands curled into fists at her side; she could feel the warm mess of blood slipping under the nails of her right hand.

The man only gave a brief chuckle at her before he hoisted Akira into the air, maintaining a strong grip on the back of her neck as he held her at shoulder height. "Is that so? Funny you should say that seeing as I'm in the one in the position of power here."

The sound of the girl screaming at the motion drove her forward a few feet before the Arrancar held his free hand forward; a brief light collecting in the center of his palm. "Uh huh, a bala hit at this kind of range wouldn't do much damage to you, but… think about her."

Her heart nearly stopped at the words.

This was a game to him and she was forced to listen to him chuckle once more at his stronger advantage.

"Now then, let's get something straight-"

The words never left his lips in a finished sentence as she watched his body fall still for a moment. It didn't take long for her to notice the silver tip of a blade cutting its way up through his chest, through his neck before it ended by splitting his head clean in half. For a moment, the scene didn't fall together until she watched as the former Arrancar slowly tilted forward. His body broke apart down the middle before it collapsed into two separate segments; a mess of still warm intestines spilled between the two halves as bones cratered and cracked with the landing.

"Unfortunately no. There's nothing here that needs to be straightened."

Akira managed to land on her feet from the initial fall but stumbled briefly and fell regardless.

The remaining two Arrancars stepped forward, rushing to take the place of their fallen counterpart but something else stopped them in their tracks.

She watched as he slowly moved and carefully placed himself between the two Arrancars and Akira; keeping her safely tucked away behind him. His sword was drawn but kept to his side as thick droplets of blood rolled from the blade and collected on the floor below. It had been a precise cut from bottom to top, splitting the body clean in two… it was a smooth motion, done in one swing; he would know exactly how to perform such a trick.

One of the remaining Arrancars sneered slightly at the motion. "And just why would you care about something like this?"

But it was the remaining counterpart who seemed a bit quicker, a bit smarter and just a bit more damning with his remark. "Just why does that little insect look like you?"

He seemed to muse with the questions for a moment, fingers pushing up on his glasses once more. "That is an interesting question, perhaps- tell me if I'm moving too fast for you- perhaps it's because… there's a chance she is mine."

She assumed the Arrancars had been expecting an immediately denial of the claim but didn't brace themselves in case the opposite happened. The two took identical steps back, staring at the man as though in preparation for battle before they seemingly disappeared. Their energy readings faded though and she could only assume they retreated from the confrontation, perhaps in fear of his words or in fear that he would do to them what he did to their less fortunate counterpart.

She didn't realize she was trembling until she watched as the girl pushed herself to her feet and immediately ran towards her; disregarding everything that had happened seconds before. Ignoring the man who stood in front of her. Kneeling down, she felt the full force of the girl running into her and closed her arms around her as quickly as she could, maybe it was in fear that someone else would try to snatch her away at the last moment.

"What's happening?"

"The city's being attacked." she started, fingers slowly tracing over the messy remains of her braid. "Are you hurt?"

"No… a piece of the wall fell on me but it didn't hurt."

"Her hierro's setting in. It's unique for it to be this strong for someone who's half-Hollow… not that we really have any data to base it off of."

She glanced up at the remark and looked to where he remained standing idly aside before he moved to slip his sword back into its sheath. "… Did you follow me?"

"I was your shadow there for a moment until I realized that these four were in here and figured that a different plan of action would be needed on my part." he nodded. "I can't exactly go around breaking through walls like that and assume that I can pull off an attack as such with ease."

Her arms tightened briefly before she slowly moved to push herself back to her feet, feeling Akira immediately move to hide behind her legs. He wasn't looking at her… instead he seemed preoccupied with something off in the distance. Perhaps he was concerned with those Arrancars spreading the sudden news but it wasn't like they had concrete evidence; it's not like they could prove anything without Akira being immediately present. Or perhaps he was just thinking.

"Who are you?"

It was Akira who broke the silence this time; her question proving to be a bit damning for the both of them. And while they struggled briefly with who should give her the wanted answer, she was the one who insisted on winning that battle.

"Do you remember when you asked me what your father looked like?"

Answering a question with another question never gave any solid responses, but the method was needed this time.

"Yes."

"… How did I describe him?"

"You said he had pink hair and… amber eyes." Akira answered slowly, peeking briefly around the curve of her leg. "… And that he wore glasses."

"That was honestly your best description?" he questioned dryly.

She frowned slightly at his words before she felt the hands around her leg slowly move away; eyes dropped to watch as the girl carefully stepped around from behind her and cautiously took a step forward. "Does he look familiar?"

The question seemed to finally draw the both of them towards one another, finally linking together that missing piece. Akira looked towards him in questioning, observation, trying to get in as many details as she could from this distance. Her curiosity had yet to outweigh her sense of caution and she wasn't willing to leave her side just yet; preferring to keep one hand tightly curled in the hem of her kimono just in case.

He, on the other hand, seemed to share a brief moment of amusement at their first encounter. He had yet to fully settle his eyes on the child and get a decent chance to look her over, but that moment was here and now finally.

She caught the way he moved to push up on his glasses once more as he turned his head away for a moment; briefly hiding the grin that toyed with his lips. She heard him chuckle slightly before he recollected himself and turned back to them.

"You weren't kidding." he started. "She really does look just like me."

There was still a sense of amusement in his features. There had been hopes for acceptance, even though he seemed open about it throughout the ordeal, but seeing it in front of her… it was a relief. At least, on his part there was, she still wasn't sure about Akira; the girl had yet to say much.

"Did you think that was an exaggeration?"

"It was a possibility." he defended.

She studied him for a moment. "… You know me better than that."

He waited briefly before a semi-defeated sigh escaped him. "You're right, I do, or perhaps I should."

"I thought you said he was in a different dimension?" Akira questioned, finally breaking her sense of silence and interrupting their conversation all at once. Her fingers tugged lightly on the hem of her kimono when she didn't offer an answer quick enough. "Then why is he here?" yet another question she had to think over, but before she could even offer an answer to her first question, she was cut off once more. "… Are you the one attacking?"

She was already able to connect the pieces.

"I'm not the only one." he started, moving to cross his arms over his chest. "Is that a problem?"

Akira narrowed his eyes briefly at the question. "Are you… going to try and hurt my mom?"

The question caught him off-guard for a brief moment, his expression unable to hide the slightest sense of surprise that came in response. It only took a few seconds before he recollected himself. "Of course not."

That seemed to be all that was needed before the girl nodded. "Then no… it's not a problem."

He chuckled slightly at her response, finding the answers humorous to say the least. The child didn't care for the rest of the Society, not bothering to spare a thought for the others fighting for their lives. As long as no one tried to bring harm to her mother, she was just fine. He had a feeling that she more than likely had lived a life of isolation up to this point, having very limited access to the world outside. She probably didn't know all that many people, which narrowed down her point of emotions; making her care only for the woman she was with day in and day out.

"Are you really my dad?"

She watched as the girl took a few steps away from her, now allowing for her curiosity to take over. Again, it was impossible to ignore their resemblance, but for Akira… she wanted more; she wanted definite answers and she wanted them now.

Fingers pushed up on his glasses once more as he watched the child slowly work her way towards him. She moved with a sense of caution but the curiosity in her eyes seemed to outweigh everything else; her head was just slightly tilted to one side as though to better observe him that way. Asides from a brief instance before, he had yet to experience what her energy type was like. If it matched his own then she would be able to pick up on it and her energy should react appropriately to his.

He knelt down and watched as she continued to edge her way towards him until she stood just a foot or so from him. "Hmm… you don't look like just like me after all, you've got your mother's eyes."

"You didn't answer my question." she insisted.

Not yet.

He moved to hold one hand out in front of him and watched as she mimicked the motion carefully afterwards. Her hand barely fit in the palm of his own but she still made sure to try and match up their fingers as best she could. She didn't even question the motion and he had a feeling that was because of her natural curiosity still. He released a brief pocket of energy from his fingertips and watched as she curled her fingers in slightly at the sudden sensation.

Almost immediately, a countering wave of energy released itself in reaction.

"Yes."

She felt her own energy tickle slightly in her fingertips at their shared experiment and while she didn't think it was all that noticeable, it was still enough to briefly draw his eyes to her once more. Her fingers pulled into her palm at his reaction as though to hide the involuntary release.

But at least Akira got her answer- the defined one that she wanted and had been seeking out for months now.

"What now?" Akira questioned, turning back towards her. "Can he not stay with us?"

"I think the answer to that resides in who wins this war."


End file.
